The Marauders: solemnly together
by halfravenhalfclaw
Summary: Life at Hogwarts isn't always easy. Pranks will be pulled, friends will be made, and secrets revealed... will the marauders be able to stick together through thick and thin, and be solemnly together until the very end?
1. The needing evil

**Hello every Marauder fan who decided to click on this story, I´m very honoured and hope you will stick with me until the very end.**

 **English isn´t my native language, though I hope you will see past that. I´m doing my best.**

 **I have been wanting to write this story in about forever, I have been having headcanons and ideas, and now I finally write it all down. I can´t wait to see what you think of it!**

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 **DISCLAIMER I´m only a fan who finds these guys very interesting, so basically all the characters you find, and many of the plots belong to JK Rowling.**

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 **The needing evil**

Stories can be seen from different views and angles. They are seen differently from different people. There are good stories and bad stories. Love stories and stories about love.

"Remus?" his mom asked, she stood in the door. Hope Lupin was a short woman with tawny hair like her son, though hers is closer to red where her son is closer to brown. Freckles decorated them both, on the chins, over the nose and many on the shoulders as well. Green/yellow eyes met blue ones as they looked at each other.

Stories affect us all differently. Matters on what we have experienced ourselves. A story about someone dying will affect those who have lost their loved ones much more than some who haven't.

"It's time" her voice cracked. Remus closed his book (Hogwarts a history) and stared out of the window. Behind the trees, he could see the last bits of orange slowly disappearing with the sun. The sky turned blue, purple and even the clouds were coloured.

These stories are all made up. An author makes it up and writes it down for others to enjoy. Then someone makes it into a book. But not all stories are made up. Some of them contain hard, cold facts. Some of them are based on things that have happened.

Remus Lupin looked up at his mother with begging eyes "Just one more chapter, I'm done soon, I promise" he hated what was about to happen and wanted to stay away for as long as possible. Forever really, but his wish will never come true.

Some stories are called articles. A journalist goes out in the big wide world, experience something, writes it down, for others to read in the newspaper. A good way of spreading news.

"I´m sorry, you have to go now" her voice was only a whisper, she hated it as much as her son. Six years and neither of them had gotten used to it. This is something you will never get used to, something you will just have to live with because there is nothing else you can do.

In most stories, there is a problem, a conflict. It creates the whole story; no conflict, no story.

The tiny boy groaned. Why did it have to be him of all people? Why did the universe hate him so much? Slowly he stood up and carefully place his book on the shelf. If he could just skip it once in a while.

The conflict can come from a person or the outer world. The person conflict is when the lead character has a problem with themselves, they must act. The outer world conflict is when the outer world forces the lead role to act.

He had been living with this since he was five. It hurts the same every time. The boy turned around and shot a tired glance at his mother. Sighing before leaving the room. His life wasn´t good, would probably never be. No one could ever love him truly.

Sometimes the lead role will make a huge mistake. This mistake causes the conflict or is some part of the conflict. One huge mistake can ruin your entire life.

His dad joined them as they walked through the house and outside. He is unlike his son and wife very tall, he has brown crew-cut hair and a full beard. His eyes are a dark shade of green, there is no freckle in sight, but he has a nice tan even though he doesn´t spend that much time outside.

The forest stood before him, big, dark, scary. Remus began walking towards it and Lyall Lupin followed a while after, giving Remus the space, he needed. Hope stood behind, she hadn´t followed him there in ages.

What is a book without a conflict? Boring.

Smells of warm and flowers hit his nostrils when he entered the forest. When he sniffed deeper there was a scent of dust and grass. But soon the smells will be replaced with blood and darkness. Remus and his dad wandered deep into the forest, away from the smell of cars and the sound of traffic. The busy normal life, with normal people.

If you stand in the corner of a room, you can see the whole room, except for the corner you are standing in. That´s the needing evil. Without evil, there is no good. Without darkness, there is no light. The world needs light, and someone just has to suffer from that.

Even when it was summer, it became cold when the sunset. He wandered into the middle of the forest, the smell of shadows and the sound of nothing filled him up. A willow now stood before him, he sat down with his back to it.

Lyall Lupin cast the necessary spells and then turned around to walk back into the house. Remus couldn´t hear him, but he could see him as he walked away. If just Remus could do that as well.

Without sadness, there is no happiness. Without death, there is no life.

The last streak of orange disappeared. The sky turned black and small stars began to take form on the night sky. And somewhere thousands of miles away, the full moon was rising. Oblivious to the rest of the world Remus began to scream. Scream like all the other full moons, but it was just as terrible as all the other times.

His bones cracked and shifted shape, the screams disappeared and turned to howls. And a few long minutes there was no longer a boy named Remus Lupin under the willow tree, only a bloody terrifying werewolf.

But just because the whole world seems against you, giving you nothing but, moons, blood, darkness and pain, doesn't mean that the stars aren't shining long away, offering a hand.

 _Blood… pain… darkness… hungry… blood… kill…_

Remus found himself in his bedroom the next time he woke up, there was an owl next to him, staring curiously. He felt a rush in his stomach but quickly pushed the thought away, it couldn´t be. He couldn´t get his letter. No one would ever allow him to attend school.

He slowly sat up and took the letter from the owl, there was two of them. The one was thick while the other one was thin. Remus reached for the thin one first, he opened it slowly.

 _Dear mister R. Lupin_

 _I am aware of your lycanthropy._

 _As I'm sure you know werewolves are normally not allowed to attend school, but what is the fun in being normal? I will give you a chance to study like everybody else. And I will give you a place where you can transform without being afraid to hurt anyone_.

 _I hope you will consider my offer._

 _Your (hopefully) future headmaster_

 _Albus Dumbledore_

With trembling hands Remus opened the other letter as well, it contained his acceptance letter and a list of supplies. But that meant… though it couldn´t be, werewolves aren´t allowed to attend school. They can´t, he can´t. It´s impossible.

While Remus tried to gather his thoughts, his dad entered the room. "Remus, there is something-"his dad stopped when he saw the letters Remus was holding. "Is it…?"

Remus nodded automatically.

Without hesitation, Lyall Lupin took two giant steps towards Remus and wrapped his arms around his boy. This was what they had been waiting for; a little dash of hope.

Of course most of his books and his uniform would be second hand, but Remus couldn´t bring himself to care. The thought of going to Hogwarts was too good to focus on bad things.

Hope entered the room and joined the hug, she didn´t understand what he had been offered, but she was happy for her son.

His whole life had been packed with nurses and healers, they tried to remove the curse. But nothing can remove a dark curse like that. Werewolves had been around for centuries. If they haven't found anything against it now, they probably never would.

Remus had gotten the chance of having an almost normal life, and that is with no doubt the best thing that has ever happened to him.

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 **So this was the first chapter, don´t worry, the next ones will be longer.**

 **Review?**


	2. Silence hurt

**DISCLAIMER JK Rowling owes all the characters (except a few OC´s) God bless her**

 _ **This chapter has been rewritten 12-09-2018 because I figured out another backstory that would be far more interesting than the one, I originally had planned**_

 **Last time: we meet Remus Lupin**

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 **Silence hurt**

What is the definition of home? How do you know if what you have is a home or just a house?

"Since when do they let squibs into Hogwarts?" these words were ringing in his head, even when they were said days ago.

Do you have to care about someone who doesn't even care about you?

"I'm not a _squib_ " the chubby boy had hissed back.

Do you even have to care about anyone? Can't you just be alone for the rest of your life?

It wasn't the words that had hurt the most, it was the silence. Peter Pettigrew had no idea why his mom didn't defend him. It was the same every day, every time, every minute. She was always silent, but why? Didn't she care for her only son?

Sometimes you just want to leave everyone. Start over. A place where no one knows you, where you would be respected.

Peter had, of course, been to Diagonally _lots_ of times before, but nothing could compare with this trip. Because this was the trip where he would get a wand, which is the _coolest_ thing ever. And also, he would finally get away from 'home' for a while. He was going to Hogwarts this year.

Who should you care about, who should care about you? How do you know if someone cares enough? Do they have to care enough? What if a little care is good enough because there is nothing else you can get.

London was packed with muggles in the summer, each and every one of them busy with themselves, walking up and down the streets. No one seemed to notice the leaky cauldron. The entrance to Diagonally.

Diagonally looked a lot like muggle-London, except for all the muggle of course, though there was a couple of muggles here too. Parents and siblings to muggleborns.

One of the differences between Diagonally and muggle-London was all the wizard shops, like Gringotts, Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, Ollivanders, Flourish and Blotts, Eeylops Owl Emporium and many more. Even more, than Peter can count, it felt like every time you got here, there was something new to see.

It's one of the few places in Britain where muggles aren't allowed to be, the exception being parents to muggleborns.

They walked past Eeylops Owl Emporium, Peter spotted a beautiful barn owl, he didn't want to be one of those kids in school who didn't have their own owl. "Can I have an owl?" he asked.

His mom considered. They did have an owl at home that he could use, and Hogwarts had owls as well, but she didn't have an owl at her time there. She knows what it's like to not have one.

"Come on" begged continued. "I don't want to borrow and owl" _and I want an owl, so I can lend it to others, might help me to get friends_. He made his best puppy eyes.

"Fine, but just this time" she gave him a heartening smile. Peter jumped in happiness inside himself.

Is it okay if someone only cares a little?

"An owl? A rat would be a better match" a manly voice next to them said while giving a derisively laugh of his own _joke_. Hate him, hate him, hate him.

The silence from his mom was heartbreaking.

"In what way? Rats can't exactly deliver letters, can they?" Peter tried to use his best knowingly voice, but his voice cracked with the last word. He wishes he had the courage to stand up to himself. Like a real Gryffindor.

"Does it matter? No one would write to you anyway"

The silence was killing.

A little care and no care are practically the same.

Peter can't wait to get away, to get away from everything and everyone. He couldn't wait to not think about them every day.

But care is important.

The day Peter had received his letter he spent the whole afternoon on the roof. Alone. From up there, he could almost see their old house. And a bit of the sea. This was his favourite place in the house, it was the only quiet place.

Just a little care.

They went to Ollivanders as the last thing, Karsyn and his mom went to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour with the others. It was brand new, just opened earlier that summer.

"Hello?" Peter said as he entered the shop, it was all dusty. A man came in there from another door. Peter recognized him as Ollivander. The owner of the shop. "Hi," he greeted.

"Hello, young man, Pettigrew, am I right? Oh, I remember the day your father came here to get his first wand, and your mother the same just a couple of years later..." Ollivander stared into the air remembering it. Peter cleared his throat, Ollivander looked at Peter again. "Oh, yes, you are here for a wand? Just a moment" he went to one of the shelves and picked out a box.

The wand was kind of red-ish wood, it was rather short, but Peter fell in love immediately. He knew he shouldn't, this might not be the wand for him, but he couldn't help but adore it.

"It's chestnut, dragon heartstring and 9 ¼ inches. Chestnut like your father´s" Ollivander gave the wand to Peter, he felt a rush go through him, he waved the wand and small sparkles flew from it. Ollivander cracked a smile. "You look like your father, has anyone ever told you that?"

"No..."

"Anyways" Ollivander quickly stood behind the counter. "That'll be seven Galleons"

Peter gave him the money and quickly left the shop. He had a wand. He had an actual wand, it just doesn't get cooler than that. _A bloody wand_. Peter had it safely hidden away in the bag he had brought. There is no way he would let anyone take it away from him.

A bloody wand!

They were all waiting for him at the ice cream shop, each and every one of his sisters was eating ice cream. There wasn't any for him, but Peter didn't care at the moment, he had a wand, which none of the others had.

Peter choose the seat longest away from any of them. His mom smiled at him. "What wand did you get?" she asked interestedly.

"Chestnut and dragon heartstring core" he mumbled.

"Stop mumbling and tell so we can hear you" Kayson snapped.

Taliyah eyed him quickly and then looked down, Leena and Florence both looked at him while Chili was eating her ice cream oblivious to all of it. His mom was silent.

"Chestnut and dragon heartstring core," Peter said a bit clearer and more wished he could stand up for himself, is that something you can learn at Hogwarts? Probably not, but he could learn some spells he could use, but on the other hand, he wasn't allowed to use magic before he was seventeen, and then he would move away.

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"Hi dad, I-" Peter felt stupid, he stared at the headstone in front of him.

 _Soham Pettigrew_

 _1940-1960_

 _Loved husband and father_

Peter took the flowers he had brought and placed them next to the stone, a tear might and might not have escaped his eyes. It was stupid, it was all stupid. He stood up again and stared at the words on the stone. It was lying.

"Dad I... I got accepted to Hogwarts, we share wand wood..." he tried but the stone refused his words, offering nothing. "I think I... I miss you," he said. Then left the stone behind and headed back to the house.

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 **Poor Peter. Remember to review.**


	3. Black Stars

**DISCLAIMER: JK Rowling owes the wonderful world of Harry Potter**

 **Last time:** **we have now meet Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Wonder who is next?**

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Family and blood above everything.

"Try harder" Walburga Black screamed at her oldest son. She was tall for a woman, had long black hair that reached the end of her back if it wasn´t tied up. Fierce grey eyes, and perfect pale skin like the rest of the Blacks.

Or not? The flesh is only flesh. The blood is only blood.

Sirius Black took a deep breath before pointing his wand at the table again. " _wingardium leviosa"_ he watched with amusement the wooden table being levitated into the air. Sirius has black hair and pale skin, though there was a spark in his eyes that you would find in none of the other in his family.

There exist two kinds of family. The forced family, the one you get by blood. And the chosen family, the one you get with your friends.

"Very well" Walburga -who didn´t seem proud by her son's talents- still had a tight face. "Because of this I will be escorting you to king's cross tomorrow," she said this with a cold voice. But her son´s eyes were shining more than ever. Like these words were even better than 'I love you.'

Which family would you like?

In the ancient and most noble house of Black, you don't just get things. You deserve them. Sirius and his brother Regulus are taught about purebloods and disgusting mudbloods. They are taught to be the best, and only the best. Success is not winning, success is seeing others fall in the dust behind you.

"Now, go to your room" she ordered. Without hesitation, Sirius did as she pleased, with a little nod he walked out of the living room. Their house was very dark, though not like it is dark but very ancient. They have black wallpaper, dark wood both for the floor and ceiling. They are the _Black_ family for a reason.

Family is an overrated word.

His room was like the rest of the house. Black, mysterious and just _screaming_ Slytherin. His bed and furniture had snakes engraved in it. What he liked the most was the window, his room was topmost in their house, and from his window, he could crawl out on the roof. He loved to do that on full-moon nights, the moon was big, light and protective above him. It was almost full.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow Sirius would attend Hogwarts.

It would be nice to get away from Grimmauld a little. He wasn't away from there often, only to shop in Diagon Alley (that was rare seeing as they had house elves to do that) or attend family reunions. Those were the best, Sirius loved to prank all his cousins. The last one was the best he had ever made, they were celebrating (Sirius wasn't quite sure what, no one told him because "he wasn't old enough") his cousin Bellatrix for something she had accomplished. The event itself was really something, she got her own party. Something Sirius had never accomplished himself, but he would. As soon as he started at Hogwarts, he could prove himself.

But anyways back to the prank. It might seem childish, but for Sirius it was great. He had levitated the cake (she got a cake! That's crazy, he had never tried cake before) into the air. Above her head, before smashing it down on the top of her head. There was cake _everywhere_.

Even if he had tried, he couldn't hold back a laugh and was exposed immediately. His mother had apparated him back to Grimmauld Place 12. She slapped him in his chin before throwing him into his room. He didn't have food the whole next day, so it was okay.

A few days after that; Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa (his cousins) had come by Grimmauld for supper. And for Sirius to apology to Bellatrix, he failed at that, her hair still smelled like frosting. Sirius and Andromeda couldn't hold a laugh back. Bellatrix just wandered in like she owned the place (most pure-bloods will do that, it will make people respect you) in her black dress and long dark curls. Smelling like frosting.

Out of all his cousins, Andromeda was his favourite. She always laughed at his pranks and sometimes even helped him pull them off. His best pranks were the ones he made with her, she had finished her final year at Hogwarts, so she knew more spells than him.

She would also teach him sometimes. He had been having a wand since the age of nine. A few extra galleons and a threat are the best way to get what you want. Besides he was a Black, he is above rules. If it wasn't for her, he would never have mastered _lumos_ , _wingarduim leviosa_ or _accio_. He still had trouble with accio, but he could summon small things.

"Can I come in?" Sirius´ little brother Regulus stood in the door. Regulus looked a lot like the rest of the family. He has black hair, yet his hair is short where Sirius has long hair. Though he had the same pale skin and grey-blue eyes like their father.

"Of course brother" Sirius turned happier by the sight of his brother. He sat down on the bed and gestured Regulus to do the same. "Anything particular you want to talk about?" they didn´t visit each other often, so when they did, there was usually a reason.

Who is your family. Those who love you or those who made you?

"I´m going to miss you when you attend Hogwarts" Regulus looked down. Blacks weren't used to emotions, it was best if you just hid them altogether.

"Come on Reg, it will be okay" Sirius smiled. "You will attend next year, and I will make sure Hogwarts is ready for two Blacks like us. We´re going to blow them all. Then we can eat together, study together and just hang out in the Slytherin common-room."

Regulus smiled, it was a nice thought, but then it quickly faded. "What if I´m not sorted into Slytherin?"

Poor little boy. Sirius put his arm around Regulus. This was the closest they had ever been to each other, that showed the seriousness in it. "Of course, you are, everyone in our family has been. I´m going to be, you are going to be, we will be the best Slytherins the school has ever seen."

Regulus was about to answer when a loud bang appeared which caused them both to jump. A little house elf stood in the room. "Master Sirius, Master Regulus" the house elf bowed to his big nose touched the ground. Sirius smirked to Regulus, house elves were unbelievable sometimes. "Supper is ready," he said before disappearing with a loud bang.

"Don't worry Reg, we will always be together"

His little brother´s worries seemed to disappear, and they silently walked towards the kitchen. Sirius was happy that he could help, and he couldn´t wait to make new friends at Hogwarts, though only someone who would like Regulus.

Family before anything.

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 **Three down one to go.**

 **Remember to review.**


	4. A miracle

**DISCLAIMER I´m only a fan who finds these guys very interesting, so basically all the characters you find, and many of the plots belong to JK Rowling.**

 **Last time: we have met; Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black.**

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 **A miracle**

Loneliness can be dangerous.

They call him a lot of things; spoiled, a prankster… but most importantly; our son.

How far are you willing to go for someone else?

James was a miracle, in many ways. For one, he was very talented and gifted, secondly, it was a miracle that he was even born. Euphemia and Fleamont Potter had trouble in that area, they tried for years, and had almost given up when they finally had their only son; James Potter. It was the happiest day of their lives when he was born.

When is it selfish, and when is it self care?

He was born a wizard just like many others, nothing special about that really. But he was their son, so naturally, he became a bit spoiled and might have gotten a big ego… though he has good confidence, which is very important.

What can you do for others, when is it enough, can it be too much?

James neared the age of eleven. His life had been full of pranks, love and caring. He had been dreaming a lot, about Hogwarts. Of being a Gryffindor, just like his father.

Are you brave enough to take up the challenge?

"James come down we are leaving soon" Fleamont called from downstairs. Today was September the first, James would attend Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry (awfully long name) surely you have heard about it.

"Coming dad" James crawled out of his four-poster bed and stood in front of the mirror for a second. He saw an eleven-year-old boy with jet-black hair that is messier than what should be allowed, and of course and excited expression on his face. He quickly changed from Pajamas to muggle-clothes.

"Good morning dear," Euphemia said when her son entered the kitchen. She was a rather short woman who had long wavy red hair, kind of like fire dancing. She had a simple dress with blue flowers that matched her eyes. James couldn´t wish for a better mom.

"Morning mom," he said while giving her a hug before he found himself a chair around the table. For breakfast, she had made pancakes, his favourite. Something like that happened a lot, wonder what Hogwarts serve for breakfast, is it better than his mom´s cooking? That seems unrealistic.

"Excited for Hogwarts today, are we?" his dad who already sat around the table reading the newspaper asked. James nodded as an answer, seeing as his mouth was filled with pancakes. Fleamont had jet-black hair like his son, but black eyes instead of brown. Both boys have the 'Potter-hair' which really just is messy unruly hair. "I'm sorry I can't be there to say goodbye at the station" Fleamont admitted sadly.

He swallowed all the pancakes and answered. "It's okay dad, you have to work, I know that" the truth was that James would have loved for his father to come to the station, but there was too much work at the ministry. He was an Auror, and bad guys didn´t stop being bad just because all the Aurors had to see their children enter the Hogwarts express.

Fleamont might have caught the lie. "Do you think I can make it up to you?" he asked mysteriously, James looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Usually, when he said something like this, it meant presents.

"I don't know, but it better be good then" he answered laughingly. Fleamont smiled back and pulled his wand out from his pocket. With a little swing, a package landed on the table in front of James.

"It belonged to me, and before that your granddad, I think it's time to pass it on to you," he said, sounding a little proud. _Great_ he thought, some old boring family heirloom. Swallowing his disappointment, James opened the package to find an old cloak. He raised his eyebrow. "Take it on" his dad insisted.

James was a little sceptical, this was just some old cloak, what's so special about it? But his parents had never let him down before, never. They had always been there for him when he needed it, always helping, always being kind, why would they begin to disappoint him now?

Ignoring his disappointment, he slowly stood up to take on the cloak and shot his dad a look. "So, what?" he asked. Now he had on the cloak, but it was really just that?

His dad had a hard time suppressing a laugh and James send him a questioning look. "Look at yourself" he explained. And when James looked down, he could finally see it, or not see it, because there was nothing to see. Could this really be? "It's not a crime if you don't get caught, remember that" his dad smirked.

Was this? Really? "It's an invincibility cloak" James shouted happily. A one and only, a _real_ invisibility cloak. "Thanks, dad" he wanted to express what he feels a little better, but he couldn´t find the words. Instead, he embraced him and hoped that it would say more than words.

"Fleamont!" his mom exclaimed and send a stern look. "You can´t teach your son to be a rule-breaker."

"Don´t worry mom" James quickly said and smiled at her. "I already am a rule-breaker."

This didn´t seem to comfort her even the slightest bit.

After breakfast, James quickly walked back to his room to finish packing his trunk. He carefully placed his new cloak in the bottom, he would hate to ruin it and then tell his dad. James was excited for all the pranks he would make with his possible new friends.

Oh, Merlin please make him a Gryffindor just like his dad, it would just be the best thing ever. He has heard so many stories about Hogwarts and Gryffindor, it felt unbelievable that he was supposed to go there today. Finally.

Even though he would obviously miss his parents. James wasn´t scared at all. Dumbledore was at the school, Hogwarts is even safer than at home. And probably more magical, he couldn´t wait to meet students from all over Great Britain, it would be so interesting. And muggleborns, he could learn so much about muggles.

When he had finished packing his trunk James lifted it downstairs, his dad was taking on his coat and prepared to go through the fireplace in the living room.

Fleamont went over and ruffled James´ hair. "I´m proud of you," he told truthfully. James quickly went in for a hug, and then Fleamont left for work.

"James are you ready?" his mom called. James turned around and smiled, he had never been readier.

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 **This was our four guys. The story will begin now.**

 **If you like it, I would be happy to get a review :D**


	5. New friends

**DISCLAIMER JK Rowling owes the characters and stuff.**

 **Last time: we have met four different boys with four different stories; Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black and James Potter.**

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 **New friends**

While standing on platform 9 ¾ James started to feel slightly nervous, for the first time this day. Not even when his mom told him to walk straight into a wall, it wasn't the weirdest thing he had tried. You don't want to know what that is. It wasn't the fact that he would travel all alone to a place he has never been before, honestly, he was happy to get out of the house. But he wouldn't see his parents before Christmas.

"You will write to me, right?" James wanted to know.

"Of course" his mom assured him. "Every day if you like"

James knew he would miss them, but probably not that much. "It's okay" he hastened to add. "Once in a while will be okay" he smiled. She smiled back. Oh, he would miss her so much.

James hugged his mom one last time before entering the train. He walked down to the end of the train where he found a compartment, already with a boy in it. Probably a first year like himself.

James recognized him instantly as a Black. Even though he had never seen the boy before. The boy had long black hair (with perfect waves), skin that was so pale it was almost white, wizard robes in green, black and silver. There was no way this boy is not a Black.

He decided to have a little fun with him.

"Hi, can I sit here?" James asked. The boy looked at James, seemed to study him, see if he was good enough to sit with him. But before he had the time to answer James sat down in front of him. "I'm, White, Jack White, you?" it was the first thing that came to mind.

The boy took a closer look at James as if he was trying to figure something out. Then he seemed to throw whatever idea he had out of his head. "And I am Black, Sirius Black," he said proudly while he straightened his back. What a prat. "I could have sworn you were a _Potter_ ," he said Potter like it's a bad thing.

"Well no Potter here" James didn't say more, he would let Black take the next move. They sat for a while. Black looked like he wanted to ask about something, but didn't quite know how to.

James couldn't stand it. "Both of my parents are magical if that's what you are thinking about," said James. He tried to sound like it mattered to him. He would get Black so good.

Black's face expressed the deepest confusion, "No, no, not at all" he paused. "I was thinking if I should throw a dungbomb at you or try to be your friend," he said it very calm and like he actually meant it. James' jaw dropped.

"Are you serious?" James asked confused.

"I'm always Sirius" Black answered.

James just stared at him in confusion. What in Merlin's name was he talking about? Then it hit him, his name is _Sirius_ Black. Once James caught the joke, he laughed. He had no idea what was so funny, but he laughed. James had never thought that a _Black_ would make a joke.

Black just smiled back at him. "You are the first person to ever laugh at that".

James tried to get his laugh under control so that he could answer. "I get why, that is the worst joke I have ever heard".

"But it made you laugh" Black pointed out.

"Yeah, but that was only because..." he stopped midsentence when a girl walked in. She had dark-red hair, a muggle-dress on and beautiful green almond eyes. It appeared like she hadn't even seen the boys, she just walked in and sat down by the window. Staring out of it. "That was only because it was so bad" he continued.

Black's face now turned to look regretting. "How can I improve it?" he asked when another boy came in and sat opposite the red-haired girl.

"Well I'm not a joke-expert" James exclaimed.

"If you know what a bad joke is, then surely you should know what a good joke is," Black said reasonably.

"Yes, I know when a joke is good, and when a joke is bad. But I don't know how you can _improve_ your jokes" James fired back. He had just begun to think that Black was actually good enough, but Merlin he is annoying.

"I'm just trying to talk to you, no need to be so harsh," Black said and crossed his arms.

James had no idea what to answer. He was right, Black hadn't been rude at all. James was being rude. "Sorry" was all he said. How not to make friends. Black smiled at him but didn't answer. James didn't know what to do, this boy is a _Black_ and will probably be a Slytherin. They were so different, but James didn't hate him and... was it a bad thing?

He overheard the third boy in the compartment say: "You'd better be in Slytherin." Ha, really? Did James honestly have to find a compartment with only Slytherins?

"Slytherin?" James said he decided to put a final test on Black. "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" he asked Black, who stopped smiling.

"My whole family have been in Slytherin," he said. Wow, like James didn't know that already, but he continued.

"Blimey," said James. "And I thought you seemed all right!" not a total lie, after all.

Sirius grinned.

"Maybe I'll break the tradition" _yea sure_ he thought _like I would ever break that tradition. Like I would ever want to break that tradition_. "Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?" he asked White, truly curious.

White lifted an invisible sword.

"Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad" Sirius felt disappointed. He had hoped that they could become friends. But a Slytherin and Gryffindor would never be able to remain friends very long.

The boy by the window made a small, disparaging noise. White turned on him. "Got a problem with that?"

"No," said the boy, though his slight sneer said otherwise. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy -"

"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" interjected Sirius without thinking and cursed himself, it's not a good idea to make enemies with your future housemates. But he couldn't help it, he felt protective over White. Which he was now thinking, that was quite a weird name. Black and White.

But Sirius didn't have time to worry much about what he had said. White roared with laughter. The girl sat up, rather flushed, and looked from James to Sirius in dislike. "Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment," she said.

"Oooooo..." White and Sirius imitated her lofty voice; James tried to trip the boy as he passed.

"See ya, Snivellus!" White called, as the compartment door slammed.

"Snivellus?" Sirius asked laughingly. "What does that even mean?"

"I have no idea" White laughed, " _Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither_ " he imitated. "That was brilliant!" he said truly impressed. Sirius felt like he had just passed a test with great marks.

"Oh, so now I can make jokes, huh," he answered. Jack laughed. "That will make two to me and zero to you, then?"

Both boys laughed. But Sirius felt devastated, he couldn't leave the feeling. This boy: Jack White, would be a Gryffindor and he, himself, would be a Slytherin. He thought about leaving him, find some other Slytherins. But he... he couldn't explain it. It was a feeling inside of him that told him to stay. Maybe Jack would turn out to be a Slytherin? Yea, he thought. That must be it, that explained it. They would both be in Slytherin.

Jack was so different from Sirius, but not in a bad way. He... saw things a different way than Sirius. They also had a lot of things in common, like pranking others. Jack was really impressed that Sirius had been able to levitate a whole cake, and was amused when he imagined Bellatrix with frosting in her hair.

"It's really fun that we should find each other" Sirius said as the train stopped. They had arrived, Hogwarts was so close now. Sirius could feel his stomach explode with excitement like there was a dungbomb in it.

Jack raised from his seat and asked, "What do you mean?" Sirius raised too and they both left the compartment.

"I'm a Black and you are a White. Black and White."

He looked confused at first, but then he realized what he meant and laughed. Sirius was about to ask why he had been so confused when Jack suddenly stopped.

"Look," he said and gestured to the compartment next to them. It looked exactly like the one they had been in themselves, but a tiny little boy was sleeping. He leant against the window. Sirius noticed that he drooled. He had no idea why he had to see this.

"What?" he asked. Looking at the boy again. He had tawny hair, and his school robes on. Second-hand Sirius could see, and just a few sizes too big.

"We should probably wake him," Jack said. Sirius was about to answer that it wasn't their reasonability to do so. But before he could do that, Jack had already kneeled down beside the boy and carefully shook him. The tiny boy threw his arm towards Jack but missed, he opened his eyes and looked confused at them. "We have arrived," Jack told the boy. "We have to leave the train now," he said it so carefully and caring. Sirius hadn't imagined that he would be able to do that.

The tiny boy sat up way too quickly, so he almost fell over. Jack made an awkward attempt to catch him, but the boy had saved himself. So, Jack slowly took his hands back to himself. The tiny boy murmured a quick "thank you" before following Jack and Sirius out of the train.

Remus found himself on a platform, with two dark-haired boys. One of them (the one who woke him up) seemed friendly. But the other one... he didn't seem unfriendly, he just didn't seem to like him. Remus wondered why, they haven't even arrived at the school yet, had he already failed at getting friends?

"Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here!" Remus turned to look at a giant. Okay, not a giant, but compared to Remus he was a giant. He felt even smaller in his presence. He and the two black-haired boys (who Remus actually thought were second-years because they were so tall, but everything seemed big to Remus who was really small himself) followed the big man down to some boats.

When they came there, they found that all the boats were full, except one. It contained a little chubby boy. The Black-haired boy who had woken him up didn't even hesitate, he just sat down. The other boy hesitated for a long moment. Remus quickly sat down in the boat next to the chubby boy. The messy-black-haired boy looked expectant at the other boy. Who finally seemed to give in and sat down next to the others. When he did, the boat immediately started sailing.

Remus just now realized that he hadn't presented himself. None of the boys said anything, but the two black-haired boys seemed to have a non-verbal talk. Remus wondered if they could read each other's thoughts. He wondered if they would want to be his friend. One of them seemed to, but the other one didn't look like so. "I'm Remus Lupin," he said eventually, deciding that he had to jump into it.

"Peter Pettigrew," the chubby boy said. Remus had time to study him closely a bit. He was almost the double size of Remus, not tall, just wide. He had short light hair, that laid flat on his head. Remus took a deep breath through his nose, to catch his scent. He smelled like... cheese was his first impression. But that couldn't be it. He tried again, this time he got... nervous and... feathers? The boy probably had an owl, and with nervous, it made sense. Remus himself felt like he was going to wet his pants.

"Jack White," the nice-black-haired boy said. He was lying Remus knew, but decided not to question it. He probably had a good reason. Plus, he had no idea how he would explain that he knew he lied. White smelled... confident, yea. What more... uh... rich, he smelled rich. You know like, expensive soap. In his hair. Not that he notices things like that about... never mind. Rich and confident. The opposite of Remus.

"Black," the last boy said, "Sirius Black" this boy shined even more with confidence and pride. And rich. Remus couldn't help but notice that he smelled... dark, somehow. Like, dark spells. But not only that, something inside of him was dark, Remus couldn't put his finger on exactly what it was. It was not in a way that he was _dark_. But something _inside_ of him was dark. Something that neither White or Pettigrew had, more like...

Himself.

It hit Remus just like that, he was absolutely stunned. Something inside of Black was dark, something that wasn't a spell, but dark enough to make Remus tremble. Remus who was a _werewolf_ was afraid of this darkness. Or maybe not afraid. But could he be a werewolf too? Wouldn't Dumbledore have told if there was another one like him? Did Dumbledore even know?

He had to know, he had known about Remus.

Remus tried to take a deep breath again. No, he wasn't a werewolf. It was another darkness. A secret, a huge one. But what? What secret could possibly smell so dark? Did Black even know what this secret was? If it even is a secret.

Pettigrew shook Remus's shoulder, it was now he realized that he had been staring. He knew it was weird, but he couldn't take his eyes away from Black. He smelled of darkness, just like himself, Remus didn't know why, but he _longed_ to be a friend of Black.

"Hey, are you alright?" Pettigrew asked with concern. Remus removed his eyes from Black and turned to look at Pettigrew. "You look ill" he added. Remus was aware that he was still staring, his eyes probably wide open as they did when he was lost in his own thoughts. He nodded, didn't know why, but he did.

"Are you ill?" White asked. "Is that why you slept on the train" Remus nodded again. He eyes fixed on Black again. His own green eyes meet with a pair of grey eyes. Beautiful grey eyes. Remus had no idea how long they stared at each other (or if the others have noticed) but he didn't care. He tried to (somehow) look beyond those grey eyes. Tried to see the darkness he could smell. But there was nothing.

Sirius was very aware that Lupin stared at him. His green eyes somehow tried to look inside of Sirius. It was unpleasant. And he couldn't shake the feeling off that there was something _odd_ about him. "Look," he said suddenly and pointed behind Lupin and Pettigrew.

Behind them in all its glory, the Hogwarts castle stood before him. It was huge and brilliant, and... magical. Sirius didn't know enough words to describe what he was feeling. The castle... imagine a hundred... no thousands of windows all glowing with light.

It was nothing like Grimmauld Place 12, there it was all dark. But here it was light and glowing. Sirius couldn't move his eyes away from it. The boats sailed nearer the castle.

They arrived at a place where they left the boats, a stern looking witch was waiting for them. She ordered them all to follow her, gave instructions, and then stooped in front of a door. She told them about all the houses (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin) and that the house would be like their family.

She then opened the doors behind her. And all the first years followed her into a great hall. If Sirius thought that the castle from the outside was beautiful, it was nothing compared to the great hall. Four long tables were placed there, one for each house. The roof was a complete copy of the night sky outside. Shining with beautiful stars, an almost full moon and floating candles.

He shot a quick glance at the Slytherin table, seeing a few of his relatives and future housemates. The first years made their way to the front of the hall close to the staff table. Professor McGonagall (the stern witch from earlier) walked in with a piece of parchment, a rickety stool and an old hat. She placed the hat on the stool. Then it seemed to come alive. It sang a song about all the houses.

After that Professor McGonagall began to read from the parchment.

"Alby, April" she called. Alby walked up and placed the hat on her head, she had it on for a while before it yelled "Gryffindor" the Gryffindor table began clapping as Alby walked down to join them. Xander Avery was sorted to Slytherin and Kenneth Bing was sorted into Gryffindor before McGonagall called again:

"Black, Sirius."

The whole school went quiet as Sirius walk up to the hat. He sat on the stool and took the hat on his head. "Why so disappointed?" a voice said, Sirius thought that it must be the hat. He hadn't even realized that he was disappointed. The hat seemed to have read his mind.

"My dad told me..." Sirius thought inside his head and remembered the story his father had told him about his own sorting. "...that the sor... that you barely touched his head before you yelled Slytherin. Suppose I hoped the same would happen to me" he thought bitterly.

The hat didn't answer him. Sirius began to feel nervous, had he somehow broken the hat? Oh, he would get into so much trouble. He was about to take it off to ask McGonagall what happened when the hat said; "you have to trust me". There was something in the way the hat said it that made Sirius nervous.

"What do you-" but he was interrupted when the hat yelled;

"Gryffindor"

Sirius found himself unable to move. There was no clapping, no cheers. Everyone was too shocked that a _Black_ made it into Gryffindor. He sat there for what felt like ages before he finally gathered all his courage and walked down to the silent Gryffindor-table. He felt the eyes from everyone on him. His mother was going to kill him for this. Sirius had never felt worse in his entire life.

The sorting continued. The red-haired girl from the train (named Lily Evans) and some other people were also sorted into Gryffindor. Petal Flores was sorted into Hufflepuff.

"Lupin, Remus."

The tiny boy nervously made his way up to the hat and took it on. It was so big to him that it covered his whole head _and_ shoulders. "Aye, another Lupin, it's ages since I sorted your dad" Remus didn't know what to answer. "Hmm let's see, let's see... hard working, yes... intelligent, definitely... courage, and lots of it."

"Will it be Gryffindor then?" Remus thought hopefully.

"I see your ambitions Lupin..." Remus felt himself blush and was glad that no one could see him under the hat. "You will do well there... better be..."

"Gryffindor" the hat yelled out loud. There was clapping and cheers as Remus found his place at the table. He joined the clapping when Mary Macdonald was sorted to Gryffindor too. He turned to look at Black who looked ill, even worse than Remus.

"Pettigrew, Peter."

Peter took a deep breath before walking up to the hat. "I don't want to be in Slytherin," he thought immediately as the hat landed on his head.

"You would do well there" the hat answered him.

"Well, I don't want to be a Slytherin. Or Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw. Please put me in Gryffindor" Peter thought hopefully.

"Gryffindor? That isn't quite the right house for you, I stand by Slytherin."

"Don't you dare!" Peter thought. Just the thought of being a Slytherin made him sick.

"Manners mister Pettigrew," the hat ordered. "I hate to break it for you, but you won't do well in Gryffindor."

"I don't care!" Peter thought. "It doesn't have to be Gryffindor, just not Slytherin."

"If I put you in Slytherin, you would do well..."

"Then I would leave" Peter cut him off. Not entirely telling the truth, he wouldn't leave Hogwarts for anything.

"You would? Hmm... maybe I should put you somewhere else... Hufflepuff is not quite right... neither is Ravenclaw. You are really putting me in a hard position here, can't you just be a Slytherin?" the hat asked.

"No way! Put me in Gryffindor" it sounded harsh so he hastened to add "please."

The hat refused to put Peter in Gryffindor. But he kept, and kept, and kept arguing until the hat finally announced...

"Gryffindor."

Cheers and claps started. Peter hurried down to the table like he was afraid the hat would take it back. He found a seat next to Lupin from the boat who stared at Peter. "You were there for _five_ minutes," he told shocked. Peter felt himself blush.

"We argued..."

Sirius hadn't been paying any attention to the sorting, but he looked up when McGonagall said "Potter James" and _Jack_ walked up there. The boy had been lying to Sirius. He was a _Potter_.

James walked up there with confidence painted in his face. "Well, well, well. Potter"

"Please Gryffindor, _please Gryffindor_ " James thought.

"I wouldn't consider anything else," the hat said, but it didn't announce anything to the rest of the school. It seemed to think, and James waited. "Take care of them, will you? No matter what, will you? All of them."

"Who?" he thought. Though he had an idea it might be Sirius.

"Just promise me" the hat insisted.

"I promise I will take care of them until the very end" James answered truthfully. He felt like that the hat smiled at him. In what way was not to tell. All he knew was that the hat smiled,

"Gryffindor" the hat announced.

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 **They all ended up in Gryffindor, but surely that doesn't come as a surprise to anyone.**

 **A review would be nice.**


	6. Not his fault

**I have an Instagram where I tell when I update, behind the scenes, etc. follow if you want to; halfravenhalfclaw**

 **DISCLAIMER JK Rowling owes characters and some plots. I owe the rest**

 **Last time: Remus, Peter, Sirius and James met, and all got sorted into Gryffindor.**

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 **Not his fault**

"Gryffindor!"

James was met with cheers and clapping from all the other Gryffindors. He was relieved. If the hat had put him somewhere else… he didn´t even want to think about it. James found a seat at the Gryffindor table next to Sirius who stared at him in disbelief.

"You are a Potter" he stated unreadable.

"And you are a Black" James answered as the hat just announced Slytherin to Pucey, Adrian. James regretted that he had lied to Sirius, as he saw his face; it expressed despair and confusion. "Hey, I´m sorry I lied, I tried to pull a prank on you… but it didn´t turn out good, I´m sorry" Sirius gave him a pained smile.

"But hey! He we are both Gryffindors, isn´t it great?" James said trying to lift the atmosphere.

Sirius snorted. "If you by great mean being killed, then yea it's great" there was no trace of joke in his voice. It made James uncomfortable.

"What do you mean?" he asked uncertainly. "Your parents will be proud, won´t they?" Sirius snorted again.

"My whole family is _Slytherin_ , and _you_ are a Potter!" he said as if it explained it all.

"What does that have to do with anything?" James asked confused. He still couldn´t tell if Sirius was joking or not.

"My family value tradition, I'm probably the first Black _ever_ to be sorted into Gryffindor. And if that's not enough…" he turned around and continued. "I made friends with a _Potter_ , our families don't like each other. My mother is going to kill me for this!" his voice grew more and more desperate as he talked. James felt his stomach clench. But he couldn't help but notice that Sirius had said they were friends. He was about to answer when the headmaster; Dumbledore, was about to have his speech.

"Welcome new and old students, I am happy to spend another year at Hogwarts with all of you" one of the older students whistled. "I will inform you that this year a Whomping Willow have been planted on the Hogwarts grounds, I warn and suggest all of you to stay away from it to avoid damage. And I want you to stay away from the forbidden forest, which is as the name suggests, forbidden, not even I know about all the creatures in this forest" he looked at all of them to make sure they understood. "But now I think it's time to enjoy a lovely feast" he clapped two times and all the tables filled with food.

James began to fill his plate with food when he saw that Sirius didn´t. "Don't you want anything?" he asked.

"I´m not hungry" he mumbled.

"But you didn´t even eat on the train," James stated. "That means you haven't got anything since breakfast. You _have_ to be hungry!"

"Well, I'm not" Sirius snapped.

He decided not to comment on it, but he was still really, really, worried. The sorting hat said that he should take care of _them_. But who was that? One of them had to be Sirius, this boy, obviously, needed someone. James tried to figure out who the others were, and how he could possibly help them.

"So, you are the Ravenclaw-kind-of-Gryffindor?" Peter asked Lupin.

Lupin frowned. "What is that?"

Peter and Lupin had over the last two minutes gotten to know each other okay well. Peter was relieved that he could find a friend this quickly. And Lupin seemed really nice.

"It's like you have qualities from more than one house" Peter answered knowingly. "You said you have already read most of our books (which is such a Ravenclaw thing to do) but you are a Gryffindor, so… Gryffinclaw."

"That's not even a thing," Lupin stated and laughed. Peter was pleased with himself, he got a friend _and_ made him laugh. Not even a full day at Hogwarts. Take that world.

Peter stuffed himself with all the food from the table. It was delicious. And it was wonderful just to be somewhere else, where no one knew him. No one bullied him. Someone actually wanted to be his friend. He turned to look at the two black-haired boys on the other side of the table. Black and Potter. They both sat quietly, Potter tried to talk to Black, but he ignored him. Peter remembered the way he had tried to argue his way into Gryffindor, had Black argued to be somewhere else, but failed?

"Do you have qualities from other houses? Lupin asked. "Maybe we can find another name for you too," Peter noticed that Lupin looked a bit exhausted, his eyes were hunted.

"Hmm" he held his hand up to his chin as though he was thinking, it made Lupin laugh. "I don't think so, suppose it´s just you Lupin" he laughed.

"Remus."

"What?"

"Just call me Remus… if you want to of course" he hastened to add.

"Then you can call me Peter" he said. By these words Lu… Remus´ face lit up. He probably wanted a friend just as much as Peter. Peter felt something nice in his stomach, was this how it felt to finally have a friend?

"Are you sure you don't have qualities from other houses? You said that you argued… what were you arguing about?"

Peter stared at Remus in shock. "You really are a Gryffinclaw," he said. "Why are you not a Ravenclaw?"

"I wanted to be here…" as he said it, Remus shot a quick glance at Black before looking back at Peter. "But don't avoid my question, what house did it want to put you in?" he asked curiously.

Peter looked around as if he tried to see if someone was listening. "You won't tell anyone?" he whispered.

"I don't really have other friends beside you, so I don't know who I would tell… but anyways, I promise" he whispered back.

"Slytherin"

"What?"

"The hat wanted to put me in Slytherin, but I refused, that's why it took so long," he said.

"Wow," Remus said. If it was for Peter´s story or because all the food disappeared, and dessert appeared. He didn´t know and didn´t care. I mean come on; its dessert time. Who could possibly worry about anything else?

Sirius Black could.

He couldn´t think of dessert or food. It only made him sick. He had broken a family tradition. And not only that, he didn´t end up in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, he had ended up in _Gryffindor_. Of all houses, he had ended up in Gryffindor, the enemy house. And he had befriended a Potter, Sirius liked James. He had serious trouble. Pun fully intended.

His stomach hurt, the truth is, he was hungry. But if he ate anything, he would just vomit. _That_ would be so uncool. So, he just watched as his house-mates ate, and ate, and ate. Then there was dessert. It was too tempting, but Sirius knew he didn´t deserve it. _Gryffindor_.

It was all James´ fault, if he hadn´t met him, he would have been a Slytherin. But Sirius couldn´t bring himself to hate him. He was so nice, it seemed like he actually cared. Like he actually wanted what's best for Sirius. Somehow, he was glad that James had lied about his name. If he had said; "Hi I'm James Potter want to be my friend?" Sirius wouldn´t have.

Sirius had to make his parents understand that he didn´t mean to be sorted into Gryffindor.

"Can I borrow your owl? He suddenly asked James. He had seen his owl on the train.

"Yes, of course, tomorrow?" James asked uncertainly.

"It has to be tonight!" Sirius insisted.

"On one condition," James said mysteriously. Sirius didn´t like the tone in his voice, but he _had_ to write to his parents as quickly as possible.

"Anything," Sirius said, hating how desperate he sounded.

"Relax a bit. Enjoy yourself. Being in Gryffindor isn´t the end of the world" he smiled carefully. _Oh right, maybe it's not the end of your world, but it's the end of mine_ he thought bitterly, but still nodded.

When all the food disappeared and (almost) everyone in the great hall was stuffed, Dumbledore raised from his seat once again. "This was the end of another lovely feast at Hogwarts. I want everyone to find their way back to their common-rooms, first years will follow the prefects.

There was a lot of noises when everyone raised from their seats at once. Remus unconditionally moved his hands to cover his sensitive ears.

"What's the matter?" Peter asked concerned. "You look really ill, maybe you should go to a teacher or something."

"Nah I'm good," he lied. Remus was more than happy that he had already gotten a friend and one who already cared as well. But his stomach clenched, Peter was (unlike himself) innocent. He didn´t have a curse on him that would turn him into a murderous beast every month. Remus hated that Peter didn´t know, but he couldn´t tell. Maybe he cared now, but if he found what he is… he didn´t even want to think about it. "Come on, we will have to follow the prefects."

A witch and a wizard from Gryffindor were trying to gather all the first years to follow them. The wizard smelled slightly nervous, the witch… also smelled nervous. This must be their first time Remus thought. He, Peter and the rest of the Gryffindor first years followed them around the castle. Upstairs, through hidden passageways. They walked in what felt like ages before they finally reached a portrait.

They stopped in front of it, the portrait was with a fat lady on it. Remus could sense people behind it, this must be the entrance to the Gryffindor-tower. "This is the fat lady," the wizard prefect said. "To be allowed to enter, you must say the code-word. Right now it's; 'flubberworm'" the portrait swung open to reveal (just as Remus had guessed) the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. The prefects and first years entered.

"This is the Gryffindor common room" the girl prefect announced, she seemed to have overcome her fear. "This is a place for every Gryffindor to be in. The girl's dormitory is up here" she pointed. "If all the girls will follow me up there, and all the boys follow Sebastian up there" she pointed towards some stairs. "Then you can settle in and get a good night's sleep, before class tomorrow." Remus, Peter, Black, Potter and five other boys followed Sebastian up to the boy's dormitory.

"Who of you are Thomas, Longbottom, Kent, Hornsby and Bing?" the five boys that Remus hadn´t seen before raised their hands. "You lot are going to sleep in here" he gestured to a door, the boys walked in. "The rest of you is going in here," he said and pointed at another door. Remus walked in as the last person.

It was a big circular room, just like the common room it was in Gryffindor colours; red and gold. It reminded Remus painfully of blood. There were four giant beds, and Remus found that his trunk was already at one of them. The whole room smelled… friendly and daring. There was another door, to the bathroom, and a giant window. To Remus´s relieve it was placed longest away from him.

Black didn´t pay much attention to it all. He headed straight for his trunk to find a piece of parchment and a quill. Because of the long trip and all the food, he had been eating, Remus was exhausted. So, he found his pyjamas and closed the curtains to take it on. He laid down, tomorrow, just tomorrow, he would learn magic. Real proper magic. It didn´t take long for him to fall asleep.

 _Dear beloved mother and father._

 _Hogwarts is great, I have already gotten a friend. He is not a mudblood, I have checked._

 _Strangely enough, I was sorted into Gryffindor, not Slytherin._

 _I'm really, really, really sorry._

 _I asked the sorting hat to put me into Slytherin, but it wouldn´t listen. I know I am breaking a family tradition. And I'm sorry, I didn´t mean to. I have already punished myself, I didn´t eat anything for dinner. Not even dessert._

 _Once again, sorry. I will try to make it up to you. I will make you proud!_

 _Yours_

 _Sirius Orion Black_

Sirius hoped that his parents would understand the situation. Luckily James´ owl was in the dorm when they arrived. So, he could send it immediately.

"Are you done?" James asked trying to read the letter, Sirius quickly folded it.

"Yes," he handed over the letter to James so that he could give it to the owl. James opened the window and the owl flew away. Sirius sighed with relief. The letter was on its way. After all, didn´t the sorting hat tell him to trust it? Everything would be well.

….

James woke up early the next morning, even earlier than when he was supposed to take the Hogwarts express to Hogwarts. Their first day of school. The day they would finally begin to learn some bits of magic. He quickly went for a shower but found that it was already locked. James went to his own bed again and waited.

Today they would have Transfiguration, Charms and Potions. James was mostly excited for the first two, they wouldn´t be able to use too much magic in Potions. Don´t misunderstand! He was excited for Potions too, but it´s just not wand flicking.

He had always loved to see his parents perform magic, and couldn´t wait to learn it himself. Finally, the door to the bathroom opened and Lupin stepped out, his hair was still slightly wet, and he already had the uniform on.

James walked towards the bathroom. When he came out again Sirius was up and headed for the bathroom after him. Lupin was sitting on his bed and reading, James quickly changed to his uniform. Sirius came out a little later and they walked towards the great hall together.

They served egg, bacon toast and much more. Sirius ate like never before, he had skipped supper last night. Everything was nice and good until the owls came in.

If someone had come by the great hall that morning, they wouldn´t have believed their own ears. No student. Not even one said anything. Though some of the pure-blood Slytherins laughed. In an evil way. They didn´t laugh _with_ him, but they laughed _at_ him. Which is the worst kind of way.

All the other Gryffindor students had received congratulations letters or gifts. Or both. Even the muggleborns whose parents didn´t even know what it meant to be a Gryffindor. Lupin and Pettigrew had both received a letter. They looked utterly happy. James had received a letter AND a pile of sweets. Sirius had received a howler.

He had expected it to come. He had hoped that it didn´t, but Sirius should have known better.

It was like a scream on volume ten thousand. Probably all of Hogwarts would be able to hear it. It wasn't a scream though. The high-pitch woman screamed actual words that no one would be able to understand. With a few exceptions, Sirius was one of them.

Having been raised in the noble and most ancient house of Black, Sirius had gotten a few skills. Not only learning spells from a very young age. He and his brother were taught about purebloods and disgusting mudbloods. About the family. Spells, very dark spells that most people didn´t even dare to talk about. The wizarding world. Muggles, how primitive they are, how wizards should rule over them.

Sirius could the whole family tree by heart. Also, a lot of spells. How to pronounce them, and the wand movement, stuff like that. Even the spells he couldn´t cast. He probably knew all the spells from first to fourth year. Even that is long away from it all. He was okay at swimming. He could recognize an unforgivable curse just by looking at the victim, most of the time. Speak fluent France, read and understand Latin. Just to give a few examples.

Though none of this really mattered.

The absolutely worst thing a pureblood can do is to betray the name and break tradition.

And Sirius had done both, in one day.

First, he had gotten into Gryffindor, Slytherins enemy. Like, literally enemy. Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor didn´t really like each other. Their rivalry had continued through students in generations. Secondly, he broke the tradition of all Blacks being in Slytherin.

Sirius could barely tell all the words his mother was screaming. He tried to stop himself from covering his ears, but the scream seemed to turn louder and louder. Mostly he made out the words; proditor, stultus, poena and traditium.

After what felt like ages. Which were five minutes. Yup, you heard right, five minutes of being embarrassed and humiliated. It stopped just as suddenly as it has started. The silence that followed was awful. Most of the school looked confused, trying to figure out if it was a joke or not.

But the Slytherins.

All the pureblood-raised-overconfident-evil-little-Slytherins (much like himself) laughed. Evil laughter. As the little snakes they are, they gloated. The same way Sirius would have done if any other had been put in his shoes. But there wasn´t. It was only him, the silence, the heartbreak and students millions of miles away.

He barely registered what was going on around him.

James gently touched his shoulder. "Are you alright Sirius?"

Sirius looked into his hazel eyes. This boy had been nothing (mostly) but nice to him. He didn´t ask any questions. He didn´t punish him. He didn´t judge him. James looked concerned. The words he had said as he meant them, they were… comforting. Sirius registered the Slytherins still laughing and felt anger rise in him.

He had _apologized_ for doing something that wasn´t his fault. Said that he would make it up to his parents, make them _proud_. And THIS is what he gets? A howler. No congratulations letters, no sweets, not even just a "well done" note or something. He gets one thing; a punishment. For something THAT ISN´T EVEN HIS FAULT.

He would show them, he would show them that no one, NO ONE, will mess with Sirius Orion Black the third without going to regret it bitterly. No one. Screw the consequences.

An idea was starting to take form in his head. He had to get James with it too.

"I still have these dungbombs you know" he smirked.

James saw the expression on his face and found his best mischief smile. "What are you planning," he asked interestedly.

"I think it's the Slytherins who sent me the letter" it wasn´t really a lie seeing as his mother had been a Slytherin. Sirius wasn´t sure if James would be on without a reason. "And I know a trigger charm that would make all the dungbombs explode at the same time" Sirius watched James with delight as he rubbed his hands together with an evil grin on his face.

"When will we do it?"

"Later, before supper. We will get up here early to attach the dungbombs under the table. And right before we leave. Boom" Sirius visualized an explosion with his hands. "We can attach it with spellotape"

"We will be the best pranksters this school has ever seen," James said dreamily.

Remus was delighted to hear that Black and Potter liked pranks. He loved pranks himself. If Peter did too, then they could make some really good ones Black and Potter would be so impressed that they would make Peter and himself their friends too and… Remus shook his head. _Stop dreaming_ he told himself. The chances that they wanted to be his friends were so small… and Remus knew better than to get carried away with his dreams.

The real world was cruel and violent. Nothing comes easy. You must fight, every second of the day. To remain good, to remain human. Remus didn´t really feel like human most of the time. He and Peter were eating breakfast. Remus thought, that if he told him now, it would be less suspicious when he took away later.

"My mom is ill."

Peter paused, he swallowed the food that was already in his mouth. "I'm sorry," he said truthfully. Remus knew he was honest, the smells. He had to fight himself to not hug Peter.

"It's okay" he lied, sort of, his mother wasn´t ill at all. It was his excuse for going away every full moon. That was one of the reasons he had been alone on platform 9 ¾ yesterday. They moved around a lot so that no one would be able to guess about Remus´s lycanthropy. That would stop now that Remus was at Hogwarts, he wouldn´t be home for most of the year. His father had to get to his new job. So, his mother was left to play ill. None of them could be there. "It's just that I´m going to visit her later. I thought you would like to know" he said and tried to smile.

"That's okay," Peter said. "I understand." Half-lie half-truth. It was okay, but he didn´t understand. No one who Remus knew understood. No one understood what it's like to fight your own skin. To look down at yourself and see nothing but scars. To regret one little mistake that turned out to be a big catastrophe…

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 **Uh, wonder what that might be.**

 **If you liked it be sure to tell me :D**


	7. Pranks and full moon

**Remember to follow my Instagram; halfravenhalfclaw**

 **DISCLAIMER; JK Rowling the wizarding world**

 **Last time: Peter and Remus get to talk and quickly becomes friends. Sirius receives a howler for being sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin.**

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 **Pranks and full moon**

In Transfiguration, they should try to turn a match into a needle. Sirius succeeded in first attempt. Which he gained 10 points to Gryffindor for. After that, he turned to look around. Lupin seemed to have a hard time staying awake. Pettigrew had exploded his match, McGonagall looked as though she was about to have a flip. But oddly enough, she didn't seem to notice Lupin.

"What do you reckon is wrong with him?" he asked James who had almost succeeded in transfiguring his match.

"Who?"

"Lupin of course" Sirius stated as it was obvious and rolled his eyes. It wasn't like there was something weird about Lupin _that_ way, it was more the way he was treated.

James leaned a little forward to take a closer look. "He seems okay to me."

"No, I mean, McGonagall is mad at Pettigrew, but says nothing to Lupin" did teachers have favourites here? Well, that was unfair.

"Maybe there is a good reason?" James answered reasonable not really caring about Lupin but more about the magic he tried to learn.

"Yeah... but there is something off about him" he was acting differently than most of the other students. Sirius didn't know very much about 'normal' behaviour himself, but he knew Lupin wasn't acting like that. His whole appearance simply screamed; I'm not supposed to be here.

"Like what?"

"I don't know" he stated. "But there is, and I'm going to find out what it is!"

"Good luck with that" James said sarcastically. "You can't get anything out of him if he is sleeping all the time."

Sirius smiled. It was weird how they were getting along so easily, he had never seemed to get along with anyone but Regulus. Of course, he had never met many more people that Regulus. Though, Sirius couldn't leave the feeling that he was betraying his family. It felt like someone had a hand around his heart and squeezed.

Somehow James made him feel better. He wasn't quite sure what it was. If it was his sense of humour, his love for pranks or just that he seemed to like Sirius; he didn't know and didn't care. What matters most is that he has a friend who seems to like him. Without any conditions.

By the end of the class, both Sirius and James had successfully transfigured their matches into needles. As the only two in their class. It didn't help much to their ego. They might have bragged just a tiny bit.

Their next class was charms with the little Professor Flitwick. "Swish and Flick," he said. They were learning the levitation charm; wingardium leviosa. Sirius (again) mastered it in first attempt, seeing as he already mastered it from home.

"How can you be so good?" James whispered.

Sirius knew that it's illegal to practice magic at home and get a wand before the age eleven. So, no need to brag about that. "I'm just gifted I guess" he shrugged his shoulders.

"Yes, but in first try?"

He didn't answer to that. He didn't know _how_ to answer that. Sometimes Sirius wished that he was better at making up stories. Around him, students tried to cast the levitating charm. Both Pettigrew and Thomas have sat their feathers on fire. Lupin (who still struggled to stay awake) seemed to try to concentrate, and it worked. He said the words and the feather slowly raised from the table. It might only have been for about five seconds, but Lupin looked pleased with himself. Slowly he wandered off to sleep again.

Flitwick didn't comment it either.

A few more students made their feathers fly, Evans mastered it, hers was just as good as Sirius'. By the end of the class, most of the students had made their feathers fly, just a little. Sirius wondered how he would explain to James how he was so good, without giving anything away. He also wondered if it even mattered that he was giving something away.

After dinner, they had potions with Professor Slughorn, whose belly had about the same size as a cauldron. James wondered how Sirius could be so good at... everything. He mastered both transfiguration AND charms in first attempt. If that wasn't enough he was also skilled at potions, though this time he could compare better.

Also, at this subject, Lily Evans was quite good. Sirius thought to himself that surely Evans was a pureblood -seeing as she was so skilled at magic- yet he didn't recognize the name. Perhaps she is one of those who has changed their last name because it was associated with mudbloods and blood traitors. His parents had told about those people, they weren't the best, but there was also something great about them. They had chosen the right path.

He got a really nasty surprise not long after his thoughts. Professor Slughorn said that her potion was the best he had ever seen and asked about her family. She said that _both_ of her parents were muggles. Which surprised Slughorn. And Sirius.

It didn't make any sense. Purebloods are better than mudbloods. So how can Evans be so good? He decided to ask James just as Pettigrew's potion exploded, he really had a thing for exploding things. "How can she be so good?"

"Who?" he asked and stirred his potion.

"Evans. If she's a mudblood, how can she be so good?"

"Don't you dare use that word" James hissed. Sirius looked utterly confused. What word?

James couldn't believe that Sirius would use a word like that, on the other hand, he should probably have expected it. Sirius is a Black, raised like a Black, born to be a Black. James wanted to change that.

"What word?" Sirius asked confused.

"The M-word!" James said. "And what does it matter that she is muggleborn? She is just as good as us, even better than me actually" Sirius looked even more confused now, he almost forgot to add four horned slugs to the potion. They were all fat and reminded James of Slughorn.

"What's a muggleborn?" Sirius asked. James noticed that he flinched back. His voice became very little, somehow. James started to take pity on him, it's not his fault. He laid an arm around Sirius' shoulder.

"It's what you call someone whose parents is both muggles. I'm not mad, just... never use that word again" James pleaded, he wouldn't be able to be friends with someone who doesn't respect muggleborns.

Sirius relaxed and smiled. "I promise."

...

Learning magic was harder than Peter had thought. He had exploded everything, in Transfiguration, Charms and Potions. He feared that he might be just as bad as his stepfather had said. The only good thing about Hogwarts was that he had a friend. Who would be leaving for a few days, but it doesn't matter. He would come back.

Peter thought that the next few days would be hard without Remus. Somehow, the boy had been sleeping _all_ day! The Professors had been mad at _him_ for exploding things, but none of them had said anything to Remus. Which was really weird.

Remus seemed like a good kid, but this was their first day of school. So how would the professors know that? Peter's friend hasn't got any better during the day, he just seemed worse and worse. In the start he mostly looked tired, now he looked more ill. Peter wondered about that, yesterday he was ill and tired as well. He had slept all night, so surely, he should be fresh, unless...

He hadn't slept all night.

Remus was probably so sick of worry for his mom that he couldn't sleep last night.

Oh, poor boy.

He felt bad for thinking about it, but Peter wanted to take advantage of that Remus was gone, maybe he could use the time to make other friends too. Black and Potter didn't sound bad. They were both really talented, maybe they could help him. Peter would die to be as good at magic as them.

He wished that he could master at least one of the spells they have learned today. He decided to practice the levitation charm, it was the one he was least bad at.

...

James was glad to see that their first prank was a success. Two hours before dinner he and Sirius walked down to the great hall to attach the dungbombs to the Slytherin-table. No one saw them luckily. After that, they walked up to the library to study. The professors had already given them homework. Though, neither of them could concentrate. The idea of the prank and the faces of all the Slytherins when the dungbombs exploded... wonderful.

Madam Pince (the librarian on the school) was almost as strict as Professor McGonagall, maybe even more. If you just made the tiniest sound, she would come out of nowhere to punish you. Sirius and James were, therefore... not the best people to but in that library.

They went down to get dinner early, they wanted to eat and leave the great hall when the dungbombs exploded, because dungbombs smells really bad, and they wanted to prank the Slytherins and not themselves.

The two pranksters had almost finished eating when Sirius triggered the dungbombs with his wand, how he was able to do that was a mystery to James. However, he forgot all about it when they were triggered. Green smoke raised from the Slytherin table. All the Slytherins started screaming and ran away. The smoke slowly spread out to the rest of the great hall. Students everywhere ran out of the great hall, along with Sirius and James, who tried their hardest not to laugh too much and reveal themselves. They didn't get caught.

When they entered their dorm laughing, Pettigrew was there, but Lupin was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Lupin?" James asked, but he didn't actually care. It just felt weird to ignore the other boy.

"Have your friend already abandon you?" Sirius added teasingly.

James suppressed a laugh.

"He's visiting his mother, she is ill," Pettigrew said, his face deadly serious.

"Oh..."

There was an awkward silence. James wished he hadn't said anything, by the expression on Sirius's face, he did the same thing.

"When will he be back?" James asked, trying to break the awkward atmosphere.

"In a couple of days."

There was a long silence. Neither of the boys knew what to say. Eventually, Sirius and James left the dorm to play exploding snap in the common room.

"Well that was awkward" Sirius stated when they had found a seat around the fireplace. The common room was noisy seeing as all the Gryffindors laughed at what had happened earlier. People were trying to guess who had pulled the prank.

"Yeah."

Sirius squirmed awkwardly in his seat Like on the train. Like he wanted to ask about something but didn't know how.

"What is it?" James asked impatiently. "I can tell you want to ask about something."

"You know a lot about mud... muggleborns, right?"

"Yes," James said and dragged out the 'e', not knowing what this would lead to, yet he was happy that Sirius corrected himself. He was keeping the promise.

"It's just... my parents always told me that pureblood wizards and witches are better than... you know mud-muggleborns. Stuff like that. But I don't really understand how Evans can be so good then, I mean, her parents are both muggles... so how can she be as good as... actually better than me? It doesn't really make any sense."

"What do you mean that she is better than you? You mastered everything in first attempt" James asked confused.

Sirius bit his lip and looked as if he regretted something. James had a feeling that now he would find out how Sirius can be so good at magic.

"Well, you know... I'm from the noble and most ancient house of Black... and... well, we don't care too much about rules... so I... I got my wand when I was nine... and I have been practising magic at home ever since. It took me forever to master wingardium leviosa"

James jaw dropped. It all made sense, but... Sirius wasn't like that. Well, of course he seemed like the kind of guy who broke rules seeing as he likes pranks so much, but... after everything James has heard about the Blacks and everything, he knows about Sirius it doesn't seem as if they are related at all.

"Well... as you can see, it doesn't matter who your parents are." James tried to find the best way to say this. "Maybe it was like that once, but now there is no difference now, I suppose your parents just got it wrong then...?"

Sirius looked to be pleased with that answer.

"I think you're right. I will tell them when I get there at Christmas" he smiled. A real smile. "Shouldn't we start this game? Or are you scared you are going to lose Potter?"

"You wish Black."

...

Remus didn't really remember much of his first day of school. It was all a shamble of professors talking, Peter looking worried and attempts to do some magic. The best he got was making his feather fly a little, which was all he needed for now.

Of course, when the moon was over, and he felt better; he would study. And study and study and study. Dumbledore gave him an opportunity that he wouldn't waste at any circumstances.

Remus had tried to study earlier, but he was tired. So tired that he actually fell asleep in the library. Peter woke him up so that they could eat early. Remus knew that Black and Potter would set on dungbombs -therefore he quickly agreed to that- the smell was bad for normal persons, but for a werewolf like himself it was worse with his sensitive smells.

He kept a close eye to them during dinner, trying to figure out when they would trigger the dungbombs. Right before they did, Remus dragged Peter out of the great hall.

"Well... see ya" Remus tried awkwardly.

"In a couple of days..." Peter stated.

"Yeah... bye."

"Bye."

It took all Remus' willpower to leave Peter behind. He had never had a friend before, and it broke his heart that Peter didn't know that he isn't human. That he didn't know. Remus wondered if it was best that he left Peter for good. It's just... it's hard. Everything for Remus is hard. Nothing ever comes to him easily. He has to fight, each and every day, for everything. He knew that it wouldn't get better now that he was at Hogwarts. Everyone else at Hogwarts was normal... that made it harder not to be.

Remus had to ask an older student for the way to the hospital wing. When he found it, he knocked on the door and walked in.

"Hello?"

"Hi" a woman came out of something that must be her office. She had black hair that was tied up in a bun, she must be the healer. "Are you Remus Lupin?"

Dumbledore had sent one more letter after the first one. He had owl'ed him back and said that he wanted to attend Hogwarts. The headmaster had then given him more details about it all. He would every full moon go to the school nurse; Madam Pomfrey. She would follow him to the shrieking shack, where he would transform.

"Uh, yes, are you, uh, Madam Pomfrey?" he asked with a tiny voice.

"I am, are you ready to go?" she seemed really nice.

He nodded. She walked him out of the hospital wing, through some corridors and outside. They neared a tree.

"This is the whomping willow, the one Professor Dumbledore talked about. We planted it for you, it will beat everyone who comes too near, under it there is a hidden passageway that leads to the shrieking shack. You just have to touch the knot" she took a branch and pressed the knot with it and the tree stood still. "Just like this. It will allow you to enter" they walked over to the tree and down in a hole. There was a long tunnel, it seemed to go on forever. They neared the end and ended up in an old house that must be the shrieking shack. They continued upstairs to find an old bedroom, or what must have been a bedroom at least. "Will you be okay now?" she asked with concern.

"Yeah, I will be fine... it's not that I got a choice anyway..." Remus mumbled the last part. He wasn't sure if this old house would be able to hold the werewolf in. "Will the house really be able to keep me in? It doesn't look... steady."

"Dumbledore himself made some magic protections, it would be able to contain ten elephants" Madam Pomfrey stated proudly. "I will go now. Tomorrow around sunset I will come here to heal you. Goodnight Mr Lupin"

"Goodnight" Remus answered and Madam Pomfrey walked away.

 _Goodnight_. Yeah right, what about bad-night, worse-night or I-might-die-night. Remus sighed, its not her fault that she didn't know. He felt guilty for giving her such a responsibility.

Remus took off his clothes and placed them in the wardrobe. Then he walked towards the bed and laid under the duvet. Waiting.

He tried not to freeze too much, it was really cold, despite only being two days into autumn.

Thousands of miles away, so far, but still so close; the moon was rising. Remus breathed heavily, preparing for what was about to come. The first light from the moon showed in the sky. He felt his body spasm, Remus tried to suppress a scream, but it was too painful. There was a loud crack as his back broke, it cracked again, and again. All the while Remus screamed, screamed because it was painful, screamed because he would soon lose his mind, screamed because he never knew if he came back from this, this time might as well be the time he killed himself. His bones cracked again. He got an awful headache and all he could do was scream in pain.

Slowly the screams turned to howls. Remus lost the last part of humanity, he was now fully a wolf. The wolf had tawny-grey coloured fur, big golden eyes. No one knew that. No one had ever seen Remus when he was in wolf-form.

 _New place. What place. Smell new. Smell bad. Miss forest. Want forest._

The wolf walked around the new room, it didn't like the new room. Usually, it stayed in the forest. In the forest, there had been some kind of invisible wall. This place didn't have invisible walls.

 _No no-see walls. See-walls. Bad-walls. Me not like. Want forest._

It hated this new place. It was small and smelled bad. The wolf began to tear the furniture's apart. The sleep-on-thing was scratched and chewed on. There was something inside the little-room-in-room, the wolf tried to get in there, but it couldn't.

 _Want out. Want forest. Bad smell. Little-room-in-room, bad smell. Human smell. Hate smell. Want out._

It didn't take long for the wolf to get bored. It ran around the room. Jumped into the see-walls. Hurt, pain. The wolf felt trapped in the room. It began scratching itself. More hurt, more pain. Wolf not care.

 _Me pain. Me hurt. Smell blood. More blood. Hurt. More pain._

The wolf loved blood. More blood. It wasn't enough. Want more pain. It crashed its head into the wall. Crash wall, bad wall, wall gone. The wall didn't disappear. The wolf crashed its head in vain. It didn't stop it though, this wolf never gave up. It kept and kept trying all night. Until big-shining thing was gone.

 _More pain. Stop pain. Can't stop pain. Too much pain._

...

Remus woke up with pain all over his body and inhaled; he was in the hospital wing... and there was a strong scent of blood.

He felt like his head would explode with pain. He opened his eyes when someone came closer. It was Madam Pomfrey.

"How are you feeling dear?" she asked motherly. Remus decided that he liked her.

"Hurt" he couldn't express it better, the pain took away his rational way of thinking. Remus hated it, he felt so helpless.

"I can understand that. You have a fractured skull and you have been scratching yourself. I almost thought you wouldn't make it" she seemed genuinely concerned.

"Had worse" he managed. That was a lie, but he didn't want to cause Madam Pomfrey more trouble than he already had, he didn't want her to think that the shack wasn't good enough for him. It had been perfect, he hadn't escaped.

"You had worse?" Madam Pomfrey asked concerned.

"Hmm" no. He hasn't had worse. "Time?" he asked hoping she would understand.

"It's dinner time, are you hungry?"

"Hmm" he managed again. She walked away and came back with chocolate. "Choc'lat?" Remus immediately turned happier. Madam Pomfrey must have seen that because she laughed.

"When Dumbledore told me about you I started reading about werewolves. He gave me some books. And one of them said that werewolves love chocolate, so I thought you might be happy if I bought a lot of chocolate. I got it from Honey Dukes in Hogsmeade" she took a plate of chocolate and gave it to Remus.

He actually didn't understand half of what she had just said. But he got chocolate and that was good. He gladly took it from her and started eating. Remus felt the chocolate melt on his tongue, it was amazing.

Madam Pomfrey released him from the Hospital Wing by evening the following day. He had been feeling better much before, but she insisted that he stayed. Remus used the time to read and practice magic, he managed to master the levitation charm. Nothing could have made him happier, except maybe that his parents wrote him a letter asking how the moon was.

It could also have been the look on Peter's face when he entered the great hall to eat.

"Hi Remus" he exclaimed happily. "How are you doing? How is your mom doing?"

Remus smiled and took himself some food. The hall was filled with noisy students and he couldn't quite handle it right now. He hoped they could finish quickly.

"I'm good, my mom is okay now... how are you?"

"Much better now that you're here."

Remus smiled even further.

"What has happened when I was gone?"

"Nothing much really, you missed our first flying lesson-"

"Oh no, that's too bad" Remus cut him off. "I'm really bad at flying" he hated how much he would actually miss of classes, and how much behind he would get. Remus wanted to study as soon as he had finished dinner.

"You also missed History of Magic -which isn't that bad anyway, the teacher; Professor Binns, is a ghost and he is as boring as a flubberworm- and Herbology. We have astronomy and Defense Against the Dark Arts tomorrow."

Remus sighed. He had missed the first lesson of _three_ classes. The missing flying class wasn't that bad, he hated flying, and heights. Wolfs aren't supposed to fly and flying wasn't the most important subject anyways.

...

Sirius could only say good things about James Potter. He was brilliant at flying. It was like he and the broom was one person. He wants to try getting into the Quidditch team next year, first years aren't allowed apparently. Sirius thought about joining too, but he probably wasn't good enough.

The two boys had finally found something James was better at than Sirius. Sirius didn't mind though, he was actually happy about it. He would hate to be friends with someone who is much better than him at everything. So, he expected James to feel the same way.

They both hated History of Magic. James because it was utterly boring, Sirius because he already knew it all. They heard from a few older students that Professor Binns also taught History of Magic before he became a ghost. James suspected that he didn't even know that he was dead. So, they started a rumour.

It was the end of their second day of school that they came up with their second prank idea.

"We _have_ to do another prank, I can't survive more days without some mischief" James dropped his quill on the table. They sat in the Gryffindor common room by the fireplace to do their homework.

Sirius finished the last sentence on the potions homework. "Mate, its literally been twenty-four hours."

"That much?"

Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Aw, come on, don't tell me you're not dying to prank some Slytherins," James said teasingly.

"Maybe a little..."

"I knew it!" James cut off. "Have any ideas? Do you have more dungbombs?"

Sirius laughed. James and his obsession with dungbombs, it has to be unhealthy. He actually wanted to prank someone again, the last time was brilliant, and they didn't even get caught. Perhaps they shouldn't target the Slytherins, if they got caught, his parents would know, and that wouldn't be pretty.

"Maybe we could prank some Hufflepuffs this time, the Ravenclaws would figure it out, we should definitely not prank Gryffindors, we can't go against our own house"

James considered the idea. "Sounds good, then we will make something that's special for Hufflepuffs, seeing as we are targeting them... what could that be?"

"Something yellow"

"Something with plants"

"Something with..."

"Food," they said in chorus.

"We can make a potion, and stuff it into some food, we can place it at the Hufflepuff table," Sirius exclaimed excitedly.

"We will make the Sleeping Draught or maybe Forgetful Potion. Maybe we can make them forget their own names" James laughed at the idea.

Sirius laughed too. "As much as I would love to see that" his eyes shimmered at the thought. "We don't know what memories we will remove, Sleeping Draught then?"

"Sounds perfect."

There might be a few plot holes in their plan. Both of them was brilliant at brewing potions and all the ingredients were easy to get their hands on. How to get it into the food? No idea.

"We have to find the kitchens," James said the next day. They had found all the ingredients, now they just needed a place to brew it, and a way of getting into the kitchens.

"Very well spotted" Sirius rolled his eyes. "But how are we going to do that?"

"Maybe we can all too innocently ask some older students? We can stand close to some of them and say; ouh, we are so hungry, wish there was some way we could get something to eat" James genuinely thought it would work.

"Do you think it's going to work?" Sirius asked doubtfully.

"Anything is possible mate! We have to find some seventh-years, they will probably think we are cute or something."

Sirius doubted that it would work, James seemed positive about it. Some way there actually was something to it, he had overheard some seventh-year girls from Hufflepuff saying that he was cute. He didn't like this comment though. Sirius would prefer to be handsome, cool or awesome... or all three.

It took a few tries. Either the plan didn't work, or the people they tried it on didn't know where the kitchens were. It worked out at last. Some seventh or sixth-year Hufflepuff told them that they needed to tickle a pear to gain access. If they knew what James and Sirius had planned, they probably wouldn't have done it.

Not knowing if the Hufflepuffs were telling the truth or not, they decided to go check. They did tell the truth. James and Sirius found the kitchens to be filled with house-elves, who were all more than happy to give them some food.

"This is brilliant," Sirius stated excitedly. "We can ask them to get us some treacle tart, or we can put the Sleeping Draught in the pumpkin juice."

James thought about it. "I think it will be easier if we put it into the pumpkin juice. Then we'll just have to make sure we don't drink it, also that way we target the whole school."

"It's almost curfew, we don't have time to do it tonight" Sirius pouted. He had just become excited about making another prank with James.

The two boys had already made the Sleeping Draught, they had decided to do it in the dorm. Pettigrew suspected something, but Sirius had told them it was homework. He is a brilliant liar. It worried James a little. If he could lie to Pettigrew like that, what would he be able to keep from James?

James had noticed that Lupin came back at supper, he looked exhausted but otherwise fine. He had also noticed that Pettigrew got really happy when he came back. James thought about what it would be like if Sirius had to go home. He would be lonely.

James thought about what his dad had said; "it's not a crime if you don't get caught."

"What?"

It was now James realized that he had been saying it out loud. "My dad told me that it's not a crime if you don't get caught."

"What do you suggest then? Are we just going to sneak out? I bet we will get caught" Sirius stated disbelievingly.

"Not if they can't see us," James said mysterious and smirked. "Come on, I have something to show you" he added when Sirius looked confused.

James had almost forgotten completely about the invisibility cloak. To his defence, he had only owned it for three days. The two boys got into the dorm and finished the potion. James showed Sirius his invisibility cloak. He looked at it in awe.

"This thing is truly spectacular, what ever did you do to deserve it?" Sirius asked. It was clear that he was impressed, James had been that at first too. The cloak really was brilliant. At least James hoped so, he hadn't had the time to try it on, if it wasn't working...

"Thanks, I got it from my dad, he got it from his dad," James told proudly.

"It's amazing, but what did you do to deserve it?" Sirius insisted.

"What do you mean? James folded the cloak and hid it under his robes. Sirius took the bottle with Sleeping Draught.

"I _meant_ what I said; what did you do to deserve it?" he asked a little angrier this time.

James still didn't understand what Sirius meant. They both walked out of the dorm and down to the common room, the place by the fire.

"I don't know, it was just a gift" James stated confused.

"Just a gift? You didn't do anything to deserve it? You just... got it?" Now it was Sirius' turn to be confused.

James would give anything to take a look inside of Sirius' head. His parents were purebloods, and Sirius was too. Not only that, but Sirius' parents were those kinds of purebloods who believed that purebloods are better than muggleborns. He acted all... weird when there was something he didn't know. Like someone was going to punish him. And he just admitted that he doesn't just get gifts. Something about deserving it... what could it mean?

He was so lost in his own thoughts that James didn't notice that the common room was empty and that he hadn't answered Sirius.

It wasn't until Sirius called om him. "Hey James, we can go now"

He looked around and noticed that there wasn't anyone around. James looked up at his friend to see his mischievous smile, it was time.

The two boys actually didn't even need the cloak, all the way down to the kitchens and back they didn't meet anyone. Of course, in the kitchens they needed it, it wouldn't be good if the house-elves saw and exposed them.

There was this container in the kitchens, it stored all the pumpkin juice, so it was ready for the next day. They walked over there as quietly as they could, luckily the house-elves didn't notice anything. The two pranksters walked satisfied back to their dorm. This time things would be smoother than the first time.

When they entered the common room, James took the cloak off them. "I can't wait for tomorrow," he said as they walked up to the dorm.

"Me neither, it's going to be..." what he meant James never found out because at this moment they entered the dorm and saw Lupin staring at them.

"Where have you been? It's after curfew" he said coldly.

"Not that's its any of your business, but we were in the common room" Sirius snapped.

"No you weren't, I was there a minute ago, you weren't there" Lupin answered as coldly as before.

"Then maybe you should wash your eyes because we were. Why does it matter anyway? We're not friends" James fired back at him. Lupin looked down so neither of the boys could see his face. "Ouch hit a nerve, did I?" James said with a fake sad voice, Sirius grinned.

"I know we aren't, it doesn't matter, I have Peter. Anyways I don't want you out after curfew, it could ruin our chances of winning the house-cup." Lupin said, again coldly.

"Come on, admit it Lupin, you want to be friends with us. You don't want to settle with Pettigrew" Sirius teased.

Lupin raised angrily from his bed, it didn't have any effect though. He was much smaller than both James and Sirius. "He is a ten-times better friend than you will ever be" he yelled defensively.

"Take that back" James yelled and pointed his wand at Lupin. He wouldn't let anyone say a thing like that to Sirius. Sirius had his wand raised too. Lupin looked from James wand to Sirius' wand, to his own that was on the bedside table, out of his reach.

"I do if he does" Lupin answered coldly again.

James looked at Sirius, he was determined, they would win this. Whatever it was.

"No," Sirius stated firmly, "What spell should we use on him?" he asked James with an evil grin on his face. The only charm James knew was wingardium leviosa.

"The levitation charm? Then he can hang around under the ceiling" James said laughingly. Sirius laughed back, they both prepared to cast the charm when Lupin cut them off.

"No, no, no! please don't. I'm sorry. Please don't." he exclaimed quickly, Lupin looked horrified. Sirius and James were both stunned for a second. Lupin took advantage of that by getting back to his bed and closing the curtains. There was no sound from in there.

The two boys looked at each other uncertain for a moment. Then James shrugged his shoulders and they both went off to bed without another word.

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 **Review? Thank you 3**


	8. One enemy in prison

**Can you believe it? 131 views, and no reviews. Plz be sure to review, it would make me so happy! :3**

 **I swear this chapter is almost 2k words longer than usual, I hope it will make up for the long wait.**

 **Remember to follow my Instagram; halfravenhalfclaw**

 **If you have an idea for a prank plz contact me! I will give credit to you if it is :D**

 **DISCLAIMER JK owes the wizarding world of Harry Potter and the characters in this fanfic. God Bless her.**

 **Last time: School is hard, especially when you don't have your best friend with you, sadly it's the first full moon at Hogwarts for Remus. James and Sirius planned their second prank. Sirius, James and Remus had a fight in the dorm.**

… **. … …. …. …. …. ….**

 **One enemy in prison is better than ten on the loose**

Remus felt awful about how he had reacted last night. He had wanted to talk to them… but now they hated him. Before he was just some guy, why is he so stupid? Would they suspect anything?

Peter hadn´t had the time to become friends with Black and Potter. He had tried, he really had, but they just seemed to do something important at all times. They had this "we do really not want to be disturbed, we will hex you if you dare" face on at all times.

Like he had promised himself, Peter had practiced the levitation charm. With no luck, when Remus came back, he would ask him.

When Remus had left him to go home, Peter felt abandon. It was stupid, he knew that Remus would come back, and that they would remain friends.

Later the same day, Peter was in the dorm when Black and Potter came in. They asked where Remus were, if he had abandon Peter. It hit him right in the heart, it was the exact thing he was afraid would happen. Naturally Peter threw the only card he had.

He told them that Remus´ mother is ill. It was wrong, and Peter felt awful about it, though… Remus hadn´t said that they weren't allowed to know it… so, technically…

Having friends was much harder than Peter expected. He wished that him and Remus could get along just like Black and Potter seemed to. That of course, would be easier if Remus were actually here. STOP torturing yourself Peter! Remus will come back. You are friends, you will get along. Just think about how easy it was the first day. When he comes back, it will be just like that again.

The day after Remus left, the first years had their first flying lesson. You could say that Peter was bad, but that would be an understatement. Potter -of course- was brilliant. He probably had practiced from home, Peter lived in a muggle-neighborhood, so there weren´t much of all that. Magic, wizard things.

At first the broom ((surprisingly enough)) came up to him at the moment he said "up". After that it went uphill, or well, it didn´t went up, the broom refused to let him mount it. He had heard someone laugh, but when he looked to see who it was, it stopped.

By lunch Peter missed Remus even more, he was now forced to eat alone. So not-cool, it was a living nightmare.

Peter hated to be alone. It was the worst thing he could imagine. He didn´t ever have a friend before Hogwarts. At muggle-school he was all alone, all the time. Oh well, actually, he wasn´t alone, the other students had bullied him. Peter was -he couldn´t ignore the fact- just a tiny bit chubby. Which gave the other students at school a reason to bully him, pick him last in sport and generally hate him.

Hogwarts should have been this new life to him. A life where he fit in, people like him and _no one_ makes fun of him. It had started just like in muggle-school.

 _One thing_. One thing is all anyone needs to start bully you. Once you have done that thing, they will bully you for… well, everything that makes you… you. Peter couldn´t bear that the same thing happened at Hogwarts. Of course, this time he would have a friend. If that friend didn't abandon him.

Peter was pleasantly surprised that he at least was good at herbology. Black was already brilliant, like at everything else.

History of magic might be the most boring thing ever created. It was probably invented to kill students out of pure boredom. He wasn't even overestimating, try to imagine the most boring thing you can think of; then double it by thousand. It didn't help that he was alone with it. If just Remus was here.

His wish came true the next day when Remus entered the great-hall. He still looked exhausted, but most definitely happier. Peter told him about everything that had happen since he left. He was relieved that Remus was finally here again.

"What have you been doing while I was gone?" Remus asked. Peter didn´t want him to know just how bored he had been, he didn't want his friend to feel guilty for being away because of his mom.

"Nothing much really. I have been trying to cast the levitation charm, but it didn´t work" he hinted.

"While I was in… at home I practiced it, I can help if you like?" Remus offered. Peter wondered what Remus was about to say, "in"? Where was he "in"? Did he accidently use the wrong word, maybe Black and Potter was right about Remus abandon him? No, that doesn't make sense, did it?

"That would be brilliant" he exclaimed happily. Remus smiled to him.

They used the next hour to make Peter master it, at last it actually worked. He couldn´t thank Remus enough for helping. It was weird that they only had known each other for less than three days, Peter felt like they had been friends for years.

Remus had started doing the homework he hadn´t made when he was gone. Peter continued on the things he hadn't finished. He also helped Remus with Herbology and History of Magic, the potions homework was more triggy, they both sucked at that.

It was getting late, Peter had finished his Herbology homework. He had begun the potions, and didn´t even bother history of magic.

"I'm going to bed" Remus announced. Peter looked up, the common room was empty, the only other people were Black and Potter. He wasn't actually tired yet, but one look at Remus and Peter knew that this guy really needed to rest.

"I´m going too" he agreed. They both packed their things and went to the dorm. Just like the first night Remus closed his bed curtains to take on his pajamas. Today, Peter did the same, he didn't want Black and Potter to see him naked and supposed that Remus didn´t want that either.

Peter opened the curtains to say goodnight to Remus, his friend responded the same way. He thought he heard someone yell later the same night, but it was probably nothing.

The next morning Remus was done showering even before Peter woke up. He rushed on Peter, so they could get breakfast, when they left Black got out of his bed, he looked angrily at Remus who hurried out of the door. Peter thought that maybe the yelling last night wasn´t just something he had made up.

They walked down to breakfast without a word to each other. The great hall was almost empty, it was really early, only a few other students was at the other tables. There were most students at the Ravenclaw table. When they sat down and filled their plates with food, Peter tried to find the courage to ask Remus about it.

"Stop, don't drink it" Remus exclaimed, then he bit his lip, as though he shouldn´t have said anything. Peter, who was about to drink some pumpkin juice, stopped halfway to his mouth and shot Remus a questioning look. "Uhh… I mean…" he looked around, his eyes stopped at the Ravenclaw table, he pointed at a student whose head was on her plate. "I think someone put something into the pumpkin juice."

Peter looked around and saw more students drop off to sleep. He smelled to the juice, it had a weird scent. "How did you know?" Peter asked confused. Remus hadn´t been paying attention to the rest of the hall, how could he see the Ravenclaw student fall asleep?

Remus avoided the question. "I bet its Black and Potter, they did the thing with the dungbombs too." He said reasonable and looked at the entrance to see if they were coming in, they did, both laughing.

Friends to all the students who had fallen asleep tried to wake them up. A fifth year from the Ravenclaw table shouted to the great hall, "It's the sleeping draught, they will wake up soon enough, avoid the pumpkin juice." He warned.

"How did you know about the dungbombs?" Peter asked curiously.

"Uhh… I overheard them talking about it." His cheeks had gone slightly pink, "have they done anything suspiciously? Should we turn them in?" he asked the last thing a little uncertain.

Peter thought back on what they could have done. "I know! I saw them brewing a potion in our dorm the other night, right before you came, they said it was for homework, but that was a lie." He whispered to Remus, he wouldn´t risk Black and Potter hearing it. He wasn´t sure if they should turn them in though. "but… maybe we shouldn´t turn them in? We don't want to get into trouble with them." Peter said honestly.

"But… okay fine" Remus exclaimed. He didn´t say anything before their first class.

It wasn´t like Remus _wanted_ them to hate him, but they had been two armed people against one unarmed person. It wasn't fair, he had no chance to defend himself. So, if he could just do… _something_ , at least something, without having to stand face to face with them, he would do it.

Remus was sure Peter would understand if he told him, he had tried to defend his friend, but then there would be questions on _why_ he backed out. Being levitated into the air isn´t the end of the world for everyone.

He had heard things about the Black family, Remus would bet all his galleons that Black would guess what Remus were if he saw him without a shirt. If he saw the bites and the scars. Normally Remus´ shirt were in his pants, but last night he had been in his pajamas. Why was Remus the way he was?

He almost deserved whatever they wanted to do to him, it wasn´t fair to them that they didn´t know. Remus shot a quick look at Peter, his friend wanted to befriend them. He could feel it.

What was it about Remus that made him not good enough for Peter? He had probably felt left when Remus weren´t there. He probably wanted some friends who were around all the time. Could he perhaps sense that part of Remus? Was that why?

Peter and Remus were the first two people in the class room. They found a seat on the first row, he didn´t want to miss out on anything. Anything at all. Slowly the class room filled up, the only person who needed; was the teacher.

One minute… two minutes late… five… after ten minutes she finally came in. By then the whole class was talking, really loudly, Remus tried his hardest not to cover his ears. Black and Potter had started a game of exploding snap with a few other students. It didn´t take long for the teacher to make silence, she shot some red lights into the air. "I want everyone to take their seats" she told the whole class, "quick" she said when some students kept playing, "now, or it will be necessary to take points" the last students sat down.

The teacher was a young woman, not older than nineteen, she has the be the youngest Professor ever to teach at Hogwarts. She had short light-golden hair tied up in a tiny pony-tail. She had green eyes, just like Remus, but hers were more shining, while Remus´ were closer to grey.

Her face was narrow, but at the same time round. Freckles were covering all of her face, and she had a big wide smile on her face.

"My name is Cassandra Casher, to you I will be Professor Casher, I am your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year, I have been travelling around the earth ever since I graduated from Hogwarts, next year I will go travel more, today we will learn Petrificus Totalus, does anyone know about it?" She looked hopefully out on the class. She speaks fast and yet calm.

Remus shot his hand into the air. But she picked someone else, Black. "Yes mr…?"

"Black" he answered importantly, "Petrificus Totalus is the full body-bind curse. It´s used to petrify the victim."

"It is used to temporarily bind the victim's body in a position much like that of a soldier at attention; the victim will usually fall to the ground." Remus said without even thinking. Black glared angrily at him, Remus just smiled better-knowing at him. He had already read all their books.

Professor Casher didn´t seem to notice that, "good, good both of you, ten points to Gryffindor. Will you come up here and demonstrate please" it wasn't a question.

Remus froze, he might have known _about_ the curse, but he had no idea how to _cast_ it. He looked at Black out of the corner of his eye, he poked Potter in the side and walked proudly up in front of the class to demonstrate. It was obvious that he knew how to cast it.

Remus slowly raised from his seat, he could feel the eyes from everyone in the class room on him. Black smirked to him, clearly aware that Remus was nervous.

"I don't expect anyone one of you to do it in first try. But do your best, okay?" Remus nodded unconscious, Black already had his wand ready. "On the count of three. One… two… three… now!"

"Petrificus Totalus"

"Petrificus Totalus" they said it at almost the exact same time, Black was faster. Remus felt his arms forced down by his side and prepared to fall, but Professor Casher grabbed him, she used the counter-curse on him. Black was already at his seat again and laughed with Potter. He sent a look that clearly said; that was for last night. It made Remus even more determined than before to take revenge.

"That was brilliant, ten more points to Gryffindor" Professor Casher announced. "Now I want y'all to find a partner and practice on each other" she swished her wand and all the tables in the room moved to the sides while a bunch of pillows appeared.

All the students in the room started casting the spell on each other, Remus looked at Peter, "you go first or me?" He asked.

"You start, we can switch turn" Peter offered.

Remus nodded, glad that his friend understood. He took a deep breath, concentrated on the spell, tried to power his wand, and said the words; Petrificus Totalus.

To his happiness and big surprise, the spell worked. Peter´s arms were forced down by his side and he felt backwards on the pillows.

"Good, good, ten points to Gryffindor." Professor Casher told the whole class and used the counter-curse on Peter. Remus searched for Black, and as he thought, he stared angrily at Remus. As respond, Remus smirked to him, tried to tell with it; bite me.

The rest of the time Peter tried to cast the spell on Remus, in the end he almost successfully did it. To both Remus´s and Peter´s amusement, Potter couldn´t do it. The only other student who did it was Evans.

Remus was really proud of himself, he had done it in second attempt, only two other students had managed. He had earned twenty points to Gryffindor _and_ showed Black and Potter that he wasn't weak.

"That was very good all of you. I want you all to practice it till next time, be sure that there is a professor or an older student who knows the counter-curse nearby. Good, good, class dismissed." Professor Casher told the class when the school bell rang. "Oh, mister Lupin, can I have a word with you please?" she added to Remus. He hadn't expected that.

"You just go, I will come in a minute." He told Peter, who followed the last students out of the classroom. Professor Casher closed the door and put a silencing charm on it.

Remus wasn't sure what she wanted to talk about, surely, he couldn´t have done anything wrong yet.

"I don't know if Professor Dumbledore has told you, but I know that you´re a werewolf" she had said it so quickly and so matter-of-factly that Remus almost didn´t even register it. His mind went black, did she hate him? Is that why she had put him to demonstrate?

"B-but Dumbledore s-said…"

"That it was only the teachers he knew would understand who knows" she cut him off, "and seeing as I will only be teaching you for one year, I probably wouldn´t be the person he should tell." She gave him a wry smile.

He still wasn´t sure why she told him this. "I just thought, that you should know, that I know." She said when she saw his confused face. "I don't think he is going to tell most of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professors, when I was in school, rumor has it that the job is cursed, we had seven different professors throughout my time at Hogwarts." She looked out in the air as if she thought at that time.

"Uh, why are you telling me this?" he asked quietly, he didn´t want to disturb her.

She smiled to him. "I work for an organization that will try make life easier for werewolves, I will work here for the year, after that I will travel around the earth again to help someone like you. That's probably the only reason Dumbledore hired me, I´m not particularly skilled when it comes to school, I could never concentrate, is it true that Professor Binns still work here?" she was still talking really quick.

"Uh, I heard so, I haven´t had History of Magic yet… you know, the moon and all." He said shyly, Remus wasn´t used to people knowing about him, and not once threatened to call the ministry.

"Course, course, but anyways I just wanted you to know that I know, that I have no problem with it, and that you are really talented." She smiled to him.

"Really?" he smiled too, "It's not just something you say to be polite?" he added hopefully.

"Its not, you really are good, you can go now, I have to clean up anyways." She smiled to him. She actually thought that Remus was good, it was weird, he felt much happier as he walked out of the door. "Lupin wait!" she said as he stood at the door, he turned around and waited. "Take care of yourself, and don't give up" she smiled, but there was something serious in her voice. He knew that she didn´t just mean the whole werewolf part, also the human part.

"Course" he said and walked out of the door, he closed it careful behind him and headed to his next class.

He didn´t see Black and Potter before they were right in front of him. His smile immediately faded.

"What did she say to you?" Black asked harshly.

"None of your business" he whispered and tried to walk by them, they blocked him.

"Tell, or we´ll discuss wand to wand" Potter teased.

Remus stood for a moment, he didn´t want to give in, neither he wanted to duel them. He could run away, but that was the same as giving in. He decided to tell them… and later turn them in. They shouldn´t get off him so easily.

"She told me that… that I was very talented." He looked Black right in his grey eyes. Remus could see and sense that he considered if Remus told the truth. "Can I go now?" he added, "I´m going be late for class"

They hesitated but let him go through. Remus let out a sigh of relief, he hadn´t even realized that he had hold his breath. It was a test, a test he had passed.

In transfiguration they should continue to turn a match into a needle. Neither Remus or Peter managed to do it, Peter managed to blow his up, again.

"You have to imagine the needle" Remus told Peter.

"If it is that easy, why don't you do it?" Peter teased.

Remus rolled his eyes, "I said it was _simple_ not easy. Transfiguration is harder than I thought." He stared down at his match, that was still a match.

"Don't be so harsh on yourself, I´m sure you will learn it, besides, we´re not the only ones who can´t do it" Peter pointed out.

It was true enough, only Black, Potter, Longbottom and Bing had managed. Longbottom and Bing helped other students while Black and Potter talked with each other. They send Remus a death glare. Peter noticed.

"What is it with you and them? Why are they so mad at you?" he asked concerned.

"I don't know" Remus said truthful, "they just decided that they didn't like me, I suppose" he sighed. Why? That was it right? Why did they hate him so much? He hadn´t done anything worse than them. They both criticized each other and defended their friend. They should be even.

By then end of the class Alice Ping had also managed to transfigure her match. Professor McGonagall assigned them more homework; to practice turning the match into a needle.

During lunch Remus tried to transfigure his match into a needle, without any luck. Because the Gryffindors had astronomy later, they didn´t have any classes the rest of the day. They could use that time to do their homework.

"We can go to the library then? You are still behind, maybe you can catch up today" Peter suggested.

Remus tried to transfigure his match one last time. Peter was right, it would be nice not to be behind. "You are right, maybe then we can find some older students, so you can practice…" Remus was cut off when someone grabbed him by his shoulders. He took a deep breath…

Black.

"Aw, can´t little Lupin and little Pettigrew turn their matches into needles? Huh?" Black asked them as if they were small kids. He squeezed Remus´s shoulder. "Do you need _help_?" he asked and squeezed harder. Remus´s shoulder still hurt after the full moon, he bit his lip to not scream, or worse, bite Blacks hands off.

"Stop it! You´re hurting him" Peter stood up defensively.

"Aw little Loopy, do you need someone else to stand up for you?" Potter joined in. Black squeezed harder. Remus desperately breathed through his nose, if he could just…

"Stop it right now! Or else…"

"What Pettigrew? Are you going to fight us? Oh yeah that's right, you can't!" Black said and sent Peter a death glare. "Now sit down, or its going be worse for little Loopy here."

Peter hesitated, he knew he couldn´t beat Black and Potter, but he had to stand up for Remus. Black squeezed harder. Remus looked pleadingly at Peter, _sit down please, I don't care, sit down_. Peter slowly sat down. Black loosened his grasp on Remus.

"Now, you two don't forget who's the boss here" Potter said with his hand on the table. Remus and Peter both nodded. Black squeezed hard one last time and slapped Remus on the side of his head before they left.

Remus tried to make himself as small as possible, he looked down as he ate the rest of his food. Neither of them talked about it, neither of them wanted to talk about it. The happiness he had felt in Defense Against the Dark Arts were all gone now. They walked silently to the library and began to do their homework.

He tried to concentrate about the potions homework, but just couldn´t. Black and Potter had won, he felt weak for admitting it. Remus is a bloody werewolf, they should be _terrified_ of him.

When Remus was younger he used to dream of Hogwarts. In his dreams, Hogwarts was a place of magic, happiness and friends. Not bullying.

Something was definitely off about Black, his smell, Remus´s couldn´t put his finger on what it was.

"I'm sorry" Peter said eventually. Remus looked confused at him. "I´m sorry that I couldn´t stand up for you"

"Its not your fault Peter, I can't stand up to them either, they are both better than us" he sighed. It really wasn't Peter´s fault. It was Black´s and Potter´s. Remus decided, they shouldn´t get away with bullying him or Peter. He would turn them in.

With a quick look at the clock, Remus saw that all classes should be done by now. That meant that Professor McGonagall either were in her office or the teachers' lounge.

"I´m going to use the bathroom" he told Peter and left. It took him a while to find Professor McGonagall. At one point he heard Black and Potter, he quickly ran in the other direction. When Remus finally found it, he knocked on the door.

"Come in" said a voice from the other side of the door. He opened the door and found a seat around her desk. She looked down in some papers, Remus wasn´t sure if he should just begin talking, she hadn´t even looked at him when he came in.

Her office was filled with books on each side of the room, behind her there was a window with a view of the training grounds. On the right side of the room, there was another door that probably leads to her bedroom. On the left side there was a fireplace and an empty trophy cabinet. The room was decorated in red and gold, Gryffindor colors.

"What do you want to talk about mister Lupin? I suppose everything went fine the other night?" she talked stern and fast, it was obvious that she was busy. Remus wondered why, it was only the start of term, surely there couldn´t be so much work already?

"Uh… I k-know who p-put sleeping d-draught in the p-pumpkin juice this morning." He said quietly, now that he was here, he felt daring, but also a little bit stupid, then he remembered what they had done at lunch. "It was Black and Potter" he said with a bit more self-confidence.

McGonagall raised her eyebrow. "You do realize mister Lupin, that you won't get friends by spilling the beans." She said, eyes still on the work.

He didn´t expect that. He had done the right thing, right? They did something wrong, he told a Professor, so they could be punished, what was wrong with that?

"Uh… yea I know that! I don't _want_ to be friends with them." He said a bit too harshly, "aren´t you going to do anything about it?" he added.

"Now that I know I will be sure to punish them" Remus sighed with relief. "But it was a harmless prank, nothing bad would happen if they just skipped this one time. You will find out that it is not a good idea that you spill the beans, that won't get you any friends." Professor McGonagall said coldly. Remus felt anger rise in him, why did everyone not count Peter as friends enough?

"I have Peter, I don't need others, ma'am" Remus said in a controlled voice. She didn´t even look up. _Why_ was she acting like this? He just tried to do the right thing, isn´t that what you are supposed to do? Isn´t that the thing good kids do? "Fine!" he said harshly. "Fine! Just fine! I understand, you don't like me because I´m not human." He hadn´t intended to yell it, sometimes he just lost control.

Now she looked at him. "You are indeed human mister Lupin! But I will not tolerate you talking to me like this. I am your Professor and head of your house, respect that!" she looked stiffed at him. He slowly sat down again.

"Sorry Professor" he murmured. Why was he this way?

She smiled sympathetic to him. "My point is that you shouldn´t make it harder for yourself. With school and moons, you don't need enemies too." He nodded. "You can go now." He did.

Remus wasn´t so sure anymore that he had done the right thing. Despite only have being mean to him, he wanted to be their friend, he hated to admit it and felt ashamed. How come he want to befriend his bullies?

"You were long about that" Peter said. Remus hadn´t even been aware that he was in the library. "hey, are you feeling alright?" he asked with concern.

"yeah, I´m fine" Remus said feeling much better now. Why did he even worry about Black and Potter, Remus had all he needed in Peter. "Want to eat early? Then we can continue in the library after that?" he suggested.

"Sounds good" Peter agreed, "I´m starving."

Remus grinned.

Luckily, they were free from Black and Potter during dinner. They ate fast and walked back to the library. They sat there to almost twelve when Madam Pince kicked them out.

"Doesn't matter. We were going to Astronomy anyways" Peter pointed out. Remus agreed. They found a group of other Gryffindor first years who they followed up to the Astronomy tower. That was when Remus realized that he missed his wand.

"Shoot, I forgot my wand at the library" he exclaimed and stopped to turn around.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Peter asked.

Remus shook his head. "No need to, you will just be late, I will run." Peter smiled and hurried to catch up to the other Gryffindors. Remus turned to the library.

"Hello?" he said when he reached the library. No one answered, it was all dark in there. Remus walked inside and found his wand under the table were him and Peter sat earlier. He sighed with relief, if Remus had lost his wand… his parents didn´t have the money to buy a new one, let's just say it that way.

He ran slowly up to the Astronomy tower, if Remus hurried he wouldn´t be late…

What was that sound?

Remus stopped in the middle of the corridor and raised his wand. His heart beat fast as he searched the presumably empty corridor. There most definitely was someone here, but he couldn´t see them, neither could he smell them, but he could _sense_ them. He concentrated on breathing, why did he have to be so scared? He didn´t belong in Gryffindor.

He had _asked_ the hat to put him in Gryffindor, but… but it had also said that he had loads of courage. Remus didn´t feel very brave right now. He couldn´t shake the weird feeling off that someone was watching him.

As Remus was trying to make up his mind if there was someone here or not; his bag was levitated into the air. It was just above him, but out of his reach. He tried to jump and catch it, but when he did that it only levitated higher above. Remus was scared, there was someone here, who he couldn´t smell, couldn´t completely sense and couldn´t see.

Unfortunately, his bag opened; quills, books and parchment fell out of it. His ink bottle fell out and crashed on his head, black ink was in his hair and it dripped down his face, the other bottle fell to the ground and ruined his books.

"Hi" a voice said behind him.

Remus got a shock, his heart skipped a beat as he jumped around to see who had said it, unfortunately he fell in the ink, he was now on the ground staring up at Black and Potter. Where did they come from? There had been no hiding places. They were both furious. He sank.

"Did you hurt your head Loopy? Cause I think you lost your memory, pretty sure me and James told you not to mess with us!" Black said angrily. Remus stared at them, he wished he didn´t, but he was frozen. So, he lay still, and concentrated on breathing.

"I bet, with those big robes he would fall sooner or later." Potter teased, Black grinned.

" _Breath Remus! Breath. Don't give in. breath! Come on for Merlin's sake Breath Remus"_ he thought desperately.

"What´s the matter? Scared without your little petty friend?" Black teased. They both hovered threatening over Remus, he still concentrated on breathing.

"You suppose he begged the hat to put him in Gryffindor?" Potter asked his friend, "he doesn´t seem very brave to me" they both laughed.

" _Breath! Just breath. They don't know, its not their fault. Breath!_ " his heart still beat quickly, he tried to get his breathing under control. Remus _had_ to not loose control, who knows what will happen if he does?

"Aw, are you crying little Loopy?" Potter said, with fake concern in his voice, it made Black laugh. Remus hadn´t realized that he cried, but now he could feel the tears in his eyes. He tried to keep them in.

" _Breath. In and out. In and out. In and out_ "

"Let's see what we have here" Black said, he picked up one of Remus´s books. At that Remus broke out of his trance.

"I´TS MINE!" he yelled as he raised from the ground. Remus fumbled with his wand, at the time he had raised it both Black and Potter had theirs raised and pointed them at Remus. He didn't know who to point on. They were both better than him, he could maybe take out one, but then the other would shoot at him. Black had dropped the book on the ground.

"You know you can't do it Lupin" Black said seriously. It amused him to have power over Remus. "Now drop your wand, or we´ll shoot."

" _Breath Remus. Breath!_ "

Slowly, Remus put the wand in his pocket and raised his hands in defeat. The others lowered their wands.

"Come Sirius we´ll be late for Astronomy" Potter said casually to Black, "If you turn us in again its going to be worse for yourself Loopy" he added angrily to Remus. Then Black pushed Remus, so he fell down again, they walked away.

" _Breath. Breath. Breath! BREATH!"_ tears were forming in the young werewolf's eyes. As soon as Black and Potter had turned around the corner they were streaming down his face. Remus collected all his books, parchment and broken quills; he found his way to the lavatory and tried to take the ink off.

All the time tears kept streaming down his face. Right now, right here, Remus somehow wished that he had never come to Hogwarts. He would rather have the fake lie about a magical castle in the fields of Scotland, than the cruel reality of a hell in form of a school.

He would have to ask his parents for more ink and quills, he knew it. Remus really didn´t want to, wasn´t it enough that they had already payed for it one time? Maybe he could use his pocket money to buy it? Then he wouldn´t have to explain anything to his parents.

Peter and Professor McGonagall was right, he should never have turned Black and Potter in. He thought it would be a good revenge, but… it wasn't! It had become a hell. For the ten thousand time, why was he like this? WHY?! Why couldn´t he just be normal, be like everyone else? Why couldn´t he just? Remus cried even harder when he realized; he would _never_ be like everyone else. Remus was a beast, a monster, no one else at Hogwarts were that.

He never made it to Astronomy.


	9. Pretty ironic

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 **DISCLAIMER JK Rowling still owes the wizarding world of Harry Potter, God bless her!**

 **Last time: Peter and Remus are finally reunited. James and Sirius pull their prank, Remus decides to turn them in. Sirius and James get back at him by attacking him in the middle of an empty corridor.**

… **. … …. …. …. …. ….**

 **Pretty ironic**

Sirius had to admit it, his and James second prank wasn´t the best one. The idea of targeting the whole school wasn´t bad, quite good actually. It was the potion.

It was perfectly brewed and everything, but they should have used a different potion. The few students who had actually been drinking it before everyone quickly found out about it, had taken so little that they woke up after only ten minutes. It hadn´t caused as much chaos and mayhem as the two pranksters had hoped.

It had been… boring, Sirius couldn´t wait for them to learn more potions and more spells they could use for pranks.

James was a better friend than Sirius could ever dream of. He loved pranks, just like Sirius, and he supported Sirius when Lupin had said he was a bad friend. Sirius didn´t know if he was a bad friend or not, how do you know if you´re a bad friend or not?

To find out Sirius used a lot of time to study older students, saw how they did it. It didn´t help much though, they mostly just hang out. He didn´t have too much to worry about though, James had just like himself been home-schooled before Hogwarts. So, Sirius was James´s first friend too.

After Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration, a while before Astronomy. They had been called into professor McGonagall´s office.

"I know you two put Sleeping Draught in the pumpkin juice this morning." It was the first thing she had said, they had barely even sat down before she had said it. None of them had been prepared for this, the look on their faces exposed them.

Before they could defense themselves, she began talking again. "You will receive detention on Saturday with Mr. Filch, be outside his office at six in the morning."

The two boys stared at each other, at six in the morning?! That was way too early for anything to be awake! Again, before they could not get a word in edgeways, she said, "Now you can go out, if you´re not there you will receive several punishments." They left without a word.

"What crawled up in her butthole and died?" James asked when they were in a safe distance from her office.

"I bet Lupin told about us." Sirius said.

James thought about it. "I think you´re right, he probably got back at us for what happened last night and at lunch" at lunch earlier that day they had confronted their dorm-mates, just so they knew who got to boss who. Also, the two boys had seen Lupin go to her office earlier that day. "Maybe we shouldn´t have been so harsh on them."

"Maybe" Sirius agreed, "But we are not going to let him get away with it, are we?" he asked a little unsure.

"Of course not!" James exclaimed as it was obvious, Sirius immediately relaxed. "We have to catch him when he´s alone, then we´ll have the best chance." Sirius agreed on this.

They didn´t have to wait too long, right before Astronomy Lupin was walking alone in an empty corridor.

He was half running, but in the middle of it he suddenly stopped, neither Sirius or James dared to move, so they stood still and stared at him under the invisibly cloak.

James whispered the levitation charm, Lupin´s bag was levitated into the air, he tried to catch it, but James just levitated it higher. Sirius had to bite his lip so he wouldn´t laugh and expose them.

Lupin´s bag opened and all it´s content fell out. Quills, books and parchment fell out of it. One of his ink bottles crashed on his head so his hair got black, the other one fell to the ground, there was ink everywhere.

As all this had happened, Sirius and James came closer to Lupin, they had taken off the invisibly cloak when Sirius said;

"Hi"

The tiny boy in front of them got the biggest jump scare ever, he tried to turn around quick, but fell in the ink. They both looked furious at Lupin.

"Did you hurt your head Loopy? Cause I think you lost your memory, pretty sure me and James told you not to mess with us!" Sirius said angrily. Lupin stared at them with wide eyes.

"I bet, with those big robes he would fall sooner or later." James teased, Sirius grinned. It was true, his robes were definitely second-hand and a few sizes too big.

Lupin breathed loudly as he continued to stare at them.

"What´s the matter? Scared without your little petty friend?" Sirius teased.

"You suppose he begged the hat to put him in Gryffindor?" James asked Sirius, "he doesn´t seem very brave to me" they both laughed.

Lupin was breathing even more loudly now, it was as if he didn´t even register what they were saying. Tears were forming in his eyes.

"Aw, are you crying little Loopy?" James said, with fake concern in his voice, it made Sirius laugh. Lupin was weak for crying, for showing emotion.

Sirius wanted a reaction from Lupin, "Let's see what we have here" he picked one of Lupin´s books up, it was completely ruined by the ink.

He got the reaction he had wanted. Lupin yelled "I´TS MINE!" and raised from the ground. Sirius dropped the book on the ground. Lupin fumbled with his wand, at the time he had raised it both Sirius and James had theirs raised and pointed them at Lupin. The tiny boy didn´t know who to point on, he kept moving it between them.

"You know you can't do it Lupin" Sirius said seriously. It amused him to have power over someone else. "Now drop your wand, or we´ll shoot."

Lupin considered, he knew he couldn´t beat the two of them, slowly he put the wand in his pocket and raised his hands in defeat. For a guy who was being over rumbled, he took it pretty cool.

James and Sirius lowered their wands, they didn´t know what to do know.

"Come Sirius we´ll be late for Astronomy" James said casually to Sirius, "If you turn us in again it's going to be worse for yourself Loopy" he added angrily to Lupin. Sirius just wanted to do one last thing, so he pushed Lupin, so he fell down again, they walked away.

Sirius was taught Astronomy at home, only because Hogwarts taught it, he had to be at top of every class. His parents thought that it was silly, didn´t make much sense though, everyone in the Black family was named after stars. However, this was definitely one of his favorite subjects, it was an excuse for looking at the stars.

On their first day they were just observing the sky, Sirius fell in talk with Professor Sinistra. She had just began working here and was just as interested in stars as Sirius was. She found it amusing that Sirius was named after the brightest star on the night sky, and he was the student who knew most about astronomy.

At home Sirius had studied astronomy after his classes. So, he knew practically about all the stars there was.

"Is that also something you learned from home?" James asked while Sirius was naming the stars for him.

"No, not really. A little bit yes, but I mostly did it as extra, I really love the stars." He said dreamingly and looked at the sky again. He hadn´t actually been seeing them since he had been at Grummauld. "My whole family is named after stars." James did a face as he usually did when they talked about his family, but Sirius didn´t notice, he was looking at the stars.

"Which one is you named after?"

He rolled his eyes, "Sirius, obviously" he teased.

James grinned "I know, but where is it?"

"Do you know Orion?"

"The guy with the belt and all?"

"Yes, my father is named after that one, and it's my middle name too. If you look at the belt there ((he pointed)) and then follow it down, ((Sirius drew the line from the belt to another star)) then you can see, Sirius the brightest star on the night-sky, in the constellation Canis Major. Can you see it?" Sirius asked.

James nodded. "Brightest star on the night sky huh?" he teased.

"Yea. And you want to know something funny? I am named after the dog star and my brother is named after the cat star"

"You two don't get along?" James asked concerned.

"Nothing like that at all! We have always been getting along." He smiled to James. "It´s just you would expect brothers to not always get along, just like cat and dog."

Sirius found the cat star. He missed Regulus so badly, they had never been apart from each other before. Luckily Regulus would come to Hogwarts next year, hopefully they would be able to see each other more, and they would be together at Christmas.

Far too quickly the class was over. Lupin hadn´t even showed up, Sirius didn´t really bother much.

And far too quickly Friday was over, and it was Saturday. James and Sirius dragged themselves down to get breakfast a half hour before detention. Five thirty in the morning.

"This should be illegal!" James demanded.

"Agreed" Sirius said and yawned, "Next time we will have to come up with a better prank, so this will actually be worth it."

"Agreed" James said and almost fell asleep on the table. They were the only two students who was at breakfast yet. Not even any Ravenclaws.

Probably the only reason there was food in here was because of them. No one wants to be up this early a Saturday morning, and this was their first weekend at Hogwarts.

"At least she didn´t take any house points" Sirius pointed out.

"I think Lupin would have a flip if she did" James grinned, still half asleep.

Ten minutes before they were supposed the meet the caretaker, Sirius and James found their way to his office. Outside of it, they found Lupin curled up against the wall, his face hidden by his knees.

"What are you doing here?" James demanded.

"I got detention for skipping class" he murmured to his knees without looking up. Sirius remembered that Lupin never showed up for Astronomy a few days ago, so he was here because of them and they were here because of him. Ironic.

"That's what happens when you mess with us Loopy, I hope for yourself you´ll think twice next time." Sirius said threatening.

"Don't worry, I will." He murmured unreadable to his knees.

At this moment the door to the caretaker's office opened, Mr. Filch came out. Lupin raised from the floor. Mr. Filch was a disgusting old looking man. A cat by his side meowed.

"Hand in your wands, now" he demanded with a raspy voice.

The three boys did hesitantly as he said, he stuffed all three wands into his pocket.

"Follow me"

Sirius, James and Lupin followed Mr. Filch down to the dungeons. He didn´t seem mad for being up this early, he actually seemed kind of happy. Sirius recognized the expression on his face, it was the exacts same his parents had right before they got to punish him. His face was… happier, kind of, then the punishment must be really nasty.

He tried not to think of it. He also tried not to think of the extra punishment he would get once he got home. His parents wouldn´t be satisfied with whatever Filch had planned, they would take matter into their own hands.

The dungeons were dark, Sirius flinched and was happy the Gryffindor common room wasn´t down here. They stopped in front of a door, Mr. Filch handed each of them a toothbrush and a bucket of water.

"In you go" he gestured to the door with an evil smile on his face. Sirius was the first one to walk in. It was an old lavatory, probably not used in about one hundred years or something. The smell in there was locked-up and worse than anything Sirius had smelled before, it was even worse than dungbombs.

When Lupin entered as the last person he quickly turned around, "Mr. Filch can I…" but Mr. Filch had closed the door and locked it.

"I´ll let you out when you´re finished" he grinned evilly, they could hear his footsteps disappear.

"Sorry Loopy, but you will have to do the punishment as the rest of us" Sirius said. Lupin didn´t answer, he just sat down and began scrubbing the floor with the toothbrush. James and Sirius did the same.

Sirius had no idea how long they had been there, there was no windows so he couldn´t check that way. The smell in there just seemed to get worse and worse, Lupin´s face was practically green. None of them said anything to each other, not even mean comments. They all wanted this done as quick as possible.

It felt like hours of scrubbing when Lupin suddenly ran to the toilet to throw up in it. Both James and Sirius stopped to look at him, he continued for several second before he cleaned his mouth with the toilet paper and continued scrubbing.

The second time it happened Lupin never made it to the toilet, luckily, he did it on parts of the floor they hadn´t got to yet. Lupin´s face was all green and sweaty now. He breathed harshly.

"Sorry" he choked, "I´ll clean it up, sorry" Lupin took some toilet paper and tried to get it all away. James and Sirius continued on scrubbing the floor, and now also the walls.

The last time he did it was right before they were done. This time though, he didn´t have more food inside of him, so he was just hovering over the toilet making strange noises.

When they were all finished Mr. Filch came and inspected the lavatory, there was a few missing spots, but otherwise the room was perfectly clean. He unwillingly gave them their wands back and let them out. Sirius and James headed straight to the great hall, Lupin went for the dorm.

Five hours, they had been locked up for five hours, in a stinky little lavatory, with no windows. Luckily there was no students in the great hall yet, cause James and Sirius smelled really, really bad.

"I wonder why it was so bad for Lupin." Sirius thought out loud.

"Perhaps he was already sick? Then it would only be worse." James tried.

"He didn´t look sick before we got in there" he pointed out.

"I don't know Sirius, it´s probably nothing."

Sirius wouldn´t let the subject go.

"Do you think we´re being too mean to him? I mean he haven´t really done anything, have he?" Sirius asked uncertain.

"He called you a bad friend." James said hurt.

"Yes, he did, but only after I offended his friend."

They both thought about it. None of them knew what to do about it. When they had finished eating they returned to their dorm to bath, Sirius was the first one.

James didn´t know if they were being too mean to Lupin. Sure, Sirius had started, but he hadn´t _directly_ offended Pettigrew. He had accused Lupin for wanting to be friends with them more than Pettigrew. It was Lupin who had said that Pettigrew was a ten times better friend than Sirius.

In the moment it had happened, Sirius didn´t look hurt or offended, he had look accepting. That was even worse than hurt or offended, he had just accepted that he was a bad friend. James didn´t want Sirius to feel that way.

He had reacted without thinking, of course he had only yelled, but he had reacted without thinking. James wished he knew what to do, he also wished he was more skilled at magic.

The weekend was over way too quickly, it was Monday again. After classes James saw ((for the first time since the sorting)) Snivellus Snape. That odd Slytherin slime-ball.

"Oi Snivellus, looking for a shampoo bottle? Cause I saw it run away from you earlier" James called before he could think. Sirius laughed.

"Like you are the one to talk with your birds-nest, do you actually call that hair?" Snivellus fired back.

"At least I don't have a hook, can it even be considered a nose?" James laughed, Sirius joined him.

Before Snivellus could say more, Peeves the Poltergeist came around.

"Potti Lotti being mean to little Snivy Snake? Whyyyyyyyyyy? What happened to Looney Loopy?" Peeves asked with a way too cheerful voice.

"Because why should we be mean to Looney Loopy when we can be mean to Snivy Snake?" Sirius asked teasing and yet reasonable at the same time. James wondered how he was able to do that.

"Ohhhhh, Blacki Smacki has a pointi lointi" Peeves exclaimed and rolled in the air. "I have a better pointi lointi than Blacki Smacki, why aren´t you just mean to both?"

"What do you mean?" James asked confused, "Because Snivellus is here and Lupin is not of course"

Peeves just laughed.

"Ohhhhh, looks like Potti Lotti haven´t seen that Snivy Snake is gone and Looney Loopy is here" he laughed.

James looked at where Snivellus had been a few moments before, he was gone, and Lupin was there with Pettigrew. When Sirius and James looked at them, Lupin and Pettigrew turned around to walk in the other direction.

"Look what you have done Peeves! Now we got neither Snivy Snake or Looney Loopy." Sirius exclaimed angrily, "Peeves?" the poltergeist had disappeared. Sirius let out a frustrated sound that made James laugh.

"You sound funny when you talk like Peeves" James teased.

"Oh, shut up Potter"

The rest of the week happened without any situations with neither Lupin or Snivellus, that was until they got to Thursday.

Professor Casher had written a lot of names on the black-board, new seat-mates, James had been paired with Lupin.

"That´s what you get from karma for hiding a dungbomb in my bed." Sirius laughed.

Professor Casher hadn´t showed up yet, just like last week, she was late, so James sat with Sirius at his seat. He had been paired with Kenneth Bing, not the best partner, but very far from the worst.

"How am I going to survive this? He can cast it and I barely can!" he exclaimed helplessly. James had practiced as much as he was able to whole last week, he had done it once, but after that he couldn´t do it again. He _knew_ he just knew that Lupin would bully him with it.

Professor Casher entered the class, room. "No need to sit down everyone" she said as soon as she entered the door. "We will continue to cast Petrificus Totalus on each other, I have signed y'all new partners, we will continue to get new partners every week, so we can get to know each other better and get new challenges."

James sighed, this would mean that he didn´t get to spend much time with Sirius doing those classes.

She used her wand to move the tables off to the side just like last time and a bunch of pillows appeared. "Now find your partner and begin practicing." She said happily to the whole class. James groaned, but walked over to Lupin who patiently waited for him.

"You start or me?" he asked nervously when James came over there.

"I´ll start" James murmured, there was no way he would let Lupin cast the body-binding curse on him. "Petrificus Totalus" he said, but nothing happened. James sighed and prepared for a nasty comment from Lupin.

It didn´t come.

"You have to really concentrate about it" Lupin told him, "Try taking a deep breath while you imagine what the curse will do"

Unwillingly James tried to do as told, there might be something to what he was saying, it wouldn´t hurt to try. He took a deep breath, just as Lupin had told, he tried to imagine the curse forcing Lupin´s arms down and make him fall backwards. "Petrificus Totalus"

It worked, Lupins arms were forced down by his side and he fell backwards. James couldn´t stop smiling, he had done it, James tried to find Sirius, he had seen what James had done and gave him a thumb up. He felt proud of himself, just for a moment.

Professor Casher came to undo the curse on Lupin.

"Thank you" he said to Lupin when he had raised himself from the floor, maybe this guy wasn´t so bad after…

"Anything to help a little kid like you" Lupin said as if he talked to a little kid.

All.

"What?" James asked shocked.

"I said; anything to help a little kid like you" he now explained as if he talked to an idiot. "It means that I would do anything to help, and that I think you are a little kid." Lupin had put his hand on James´s shoulder.

James felt anger rise in him, who did Lupin think he was? Talking to James like that.

"Shut up you freak" James hissed. He could see the regret in Lupin´s eyes, but Lupin didn´t move his hand, instead he lifted his wand with almost in-human speed and used the body-bind curse on him. James felt his arms forced down by his side, he fell backwards.

He could see it. James could _see_ the satisfaction in Lupin´s eyes, the tiny boy had gotten back at him, legally. Lupin didn´t call for Professor Casher to come, he waited for her to come. It took almost ten minutes and it was only because Sirius noticed.

Lupin leaned against one of the desks as if he didn´t care at all. James raised from the floor and stood next to Lupin, then Professor Casher dismissed the class. Sirius went over to James when Lupin had left with Pettigrew.

"What was that all about?" he asked interested and curiously.

"He deserved everything we have done to him!" James told angrily.

"What? Why? What had he done?" he asked eagerly.

"He talked to me as I was an idiot, and then he locked me in the body-bind curse for _ten_ minutes."

"Then we´ll just do the same to him" Sirius said with an evil grin, James liked that grin.

Lupin was a wicked little boy. He may not be the best at charm work, or wand against wand, but he was really good at coming back at people. If it wasn´t because he used this against Sirius and James, he would be a wicked prankster.

He was really good at using what he had, he always knew exactly what his talents were and what his chances were. He knew how to come back at people the best way possible. It was like he knew things about people, like he could read-minds or something, that way he knew how to get back at people.

James and Sirius didn´t change behavior around Lupin, he shouldn´t think that he could be the boss. They were, and he should learn that, the easy or the hard way, Lupin gets to decide that.

It turns out that Lupin isn´t their only problem, Snivellus is just a great pain in the arse, or a slimy-pain in the arse. The guy was still mad at James and Sirius for what happened on the Hogwarts express. At potions he had spoiled James´s potion by putting a whole bucket of snake fangs in by "accident".

Professor Slughorn turned the blind eye to it, probably only because it was a student from his own house. He wouldn´t even listen to James or Sirius as they explained that it was on purpose. So, James had to start all over again.

When Slughorn didn´t look Snivellus gave them an evil smirk to brag; he believed me, not you, me. James couldn´t contain himself, he took a deep breath, imagined the curse hit Snivellus, and murmured the words to the body-binding curse. It hit him and Snivellus fell on the ground, Slughorn wasn´t able to tell who it had been.

It was pretty ironic that James wouldn´t have been able to do it without Lupin.


	10. A brief moment

**Welcome back everyone, this chapter is a little short, and I'm sorry it has been so long since my last update!**

 **Remember to follow my Instagram; halfravenhalfclaw**

 **This chapter is a bit happier than the previous ones, no bullying at all.**

 **DISCLAIMER yeah… I'm not JK Rowling and I haven't made the wizarding world of Harry Potter, I wasn´t even born when the first book came out… God bless Joana!**

 **Last time: James, Sirius and Remus had detention and Remus taught James how to cast the body-binding charm.**

 **A brief moment**

"Please! Make a prank with me!"

"I don't know Remus…"

Remus had for an hour now tried to convince Peter to make a prank with him, without any luck so far.

"If you don't want to I´ll just have to do it alone…" Remus tried to make his best puppy-eyes, unfortunately those weren´t something werewolves had. He imagined them to look rather disturbing, though this could work too, he would only stop if Peter said yes.

"Good luck then"

It was Saturday morning, one week after the detention, the two friends had just gotten back from breakfast.

"Please! It´s no fun to do it alone" Remus insisted.

Remus was no longer behind with his homework, so he allowed himself to relax a little and have some fun. The other night he had been in the library and found a wonderful charm.

"Then find someone else to do it with! I don't want to use five hours cleaning a lavatory with a toothbrush!" Remus had told Peter about the detention he had gotten a week ago, it wasn´t pleasant to be locked up in there for five hours. Especially with a werewolf nose.

"But I want to do it with you." Remus insisted, "Please, I promise we won't get caught, and if we do then I´ll take all the blame" he promised. Remus could sense that Peter was about to give in, so he pressed on.

"Wouldn´t that make me look like a bad friend?" he asked nervously.

The spell that Remus had found was a sound-effect-charm. You put the charm for instance on a book, now every time you touch that book, the charm will be triggered, and the sound effect will be released.

"Maybe… but I don't care, I just need help to do it, or someone to keep watch or something…" Remus could see that Peter considered, he wouldn´t get detention, and he would do something as easy as keeping watch.

"I don't know…"

"Please" he tried one more time.

"Fine" Peter raised his hands in defeat.

The sound-effect-charm had different wand movements matters on what sound you would want.

Remus smiled, he felt much better when he was near Peter, he tried to ignore the guilt. When Black and Potter was around, he felt worse. After last Thursday they wasn´t so mean to him, of course they were still mean, but they didn´t attack him or Peter anymore.

He had really got respect from them, or they were just planning something really big. Remus made sure to be around Peter _all_ the time, none of them wanted to be alone with Black and Potter out there.

Remus hadn´t told Peter why he never came to Astronomy last week. He didn´t know what to tell him, Peter had begged him to tell it, so at last Remus had lied about, he said that he had been sick and gone to the hospital wing. He had explained the detention with that he had been caught sneaking out. Then there came tons of questions why he was sneaking out, and why he hadn´t done it with Peter.

Way too many questions.

Remus hated when Peter started asking question, it was stupid, and he was probably just paranoid. He just felt like it might somehow lead to Peter finding out about Remus.

"You´re the best!" Remus exclaimed happily. He wanted to hug Peter, but wasn´t sure if they were on hug-level yet. "I´ve already practiced, it, look." Remus pointed his wand at a rock he had found outside to practice on and said the words; Canedum. It seemed as if there was no effect, but when Peter reached out to touch the stone, it made a fart noise.

Peter suppressed a laugh.

"Remus this is brilliant" he reached out to touch the stone again, instead of lifting the finger he kept it there, the result was a long fart. Some sixth-year girls gave them a disgusted look when the two boys couldn´t stop laughing.

Fart jokes, such a classic joke, yet fun every time.

Remus could sense that Peter´s laugh was real, he felt so grateful for having such a good friend as Peter. He felt lots of his worries about their friendship disappear, Peter liked him, actually liked him, of course only the parts he knew. If Peter knew the true he would hate Remus.

"What about we do it today? Right now?" Remus asked eager, he couldn´t wait to see the faces of people who would innocently touch different things and after that be accused for farting.

"Right now, sounds good"

Peter and Remus walked as quietly as they could out of the common-room, it wasn´t very quiet, no one bothered though, the Gryffindor common-room was always noisy. Such a big surprise.

"What are we going to hex first?" Remus asked and rubbed his hands.

"That tapestry? It looks good, who is it?" Peter looked closer at the tapestry he had found, "Barnabas the Barmy" he read. Remus looked at the tapestry, there was a man, probably Barnabas, who was… teaching trolls to dance ballet? This tapestry was definitely qualified for mischief.

"It´s perfect" Remus laughed, he cast the spell, Peter touched to make sure that it had worked, it did. Barnabas gave them as disgusted look, how dare they disgrace him. Remus and Peter just laughed and continued to find other things to use the spell on.

In total they enchanted, the tapestry, a couple of armors, some stairs, paintings, doors, windows, a pair of shoes they found and books from the library. Only books they wouldn´t read anyways. The only place that was left untouched was the dungeons, that place is Slytherin territory. It was an unspoken rule, but everyone knew it.

Not that neither of them wanted to go down there anyways, the dungeons were dark and cold. Remus was glad that he wasn´t a Slytherin, it probably wasn´t that bad, but… the dungeons. Plus, the Slytherins had a reputation that… wasn´t the best, it was where most pure-blood witches and wizards were sorted into, those kinds of people who could take one look at Remus and know he is a werewolf.

Remus had often considered which house he would be sorted into if he would go to Hogwarts. He had never even dared to dream about actually going there. Had probably read Hogwarts a History about a million times, it was his favorite book. He had often imagined himself in Ravenclaw, but the whole "creativity" thing wasn´t really his thing.

Slytherin had never really been an option, Remus couldn´t identify himself with any of the traits, plus the reputation was kind of scary. Neither had he felt like a Gryffindor, Remus didn´t see himself as brave, just look at him, avoiding the dungeons, doesn't want to walk around alone. How much "bravery" is there in that? Hufflepuff… a werewolf in Hufflepuff? No way.

After that he had just told himself that it didn´t matter, he would never go to Hogwarts anyways. But… here he was, at Hogwarts, learning magic, making friends, or just one friend actually. That's still one more friend that the rest of his life.

When Remus and Peter walked over to the great hall to eat lunch, they overheard a conversation between some fifth years, they were discussing who had farted. Both boys almost failed trying not to laugh.

The atmosphere during lunch was the same as it had been at breakfast. Sad and hesitant… it was like, no one dared to speak too loudly, as if it was dangerous somehow. It was impossible not to notice, even for normal humans. Remus felt his mood sink as soon as he entered the hall. What could possibly have happened?

It had started from the older students and then spread to the rest of the school. Especially the Hufflepuffs had been quiet, the other houses send them worried looks. Remus would bet most of the students didn´t even know what was going on, they just did as the rest.

Remus and Peter ate quickly, they wanted to escape the great hall as soon as possible.

"It feels like there's a dementor in there" Peter said as soon as they had left. The atmosphere changed completely, it was like everyone were only sad in the great hall. Remus hadn´t felt anything when they were in the common-room earlier.

"Yeah… I wonder what happened" Remus agreed thoughtful.

They made a quick visit by their dorm, then they walked to the library to study. Remus might not be behind now, but soon enough he would.

"There has been an attack" Sirius declared to James, he had been afraid to say it at breakfast, someone might have heard him. Right now, they were outside by the black lake, it was cold, so no one else were there. Perfect.

"I know Sirius, I was there" James answered irritated, he didn´t want to be outside in this cold if there weren´t any snow. Plus, he didn´t have a scarf or anything.

"On a mud-muggleborn persons family" he continued as if James hadn´t said anything.

"And…?"

"Why?" Sirius exclaimed confused, it didn´t make any sense at all to him, "You said that it isn´t like that anymore" it was easy to spot the hurt and confusion in his voice. James stopped.

"Sirius… it´s just…" James had no idea what to say, he groaned, "It´s complicated! Okay!" he yelled at last, his face screwed up in regret when he saw Sirius´s face.

"Then… explain it please, I want to understand!" Sirius begged. James started walking again, it might give him some time to think. What should he tell Sirius without hurting his feelings and without lying? Sirius waited for an answer, he looked pleadingly at James.

"Some sorcerers… believe that pureblood is better, we both know that they´re wrong…" he paused to look at Sirius, his friend nodded. "But, they don't know that they´re wrong… the persons who did this… they know, but refuse to believe it, so they…" James couldn´t finish the sentence, Sirius worked it all out in his head.

"So, they are so stuck up in their own belief that they refuse to see the truth?" he asked confused, James nodded. "But why? Can't they see that muggleborns is just as good?" Sirius´s face was one big question mark, he thought of his parents, would they do that kind of thing? Would the rest of his family?

"That's just it, they can't see it. As you said, they are so stuck up in their own belief that they refuse to see the truth." James was split up, on one hand he was sad that Sirius was so frustrated about it, his family is the kind of people who would do that kind of thing, on the other hand, Sirius had just said muggleborn without almost saying… the other thing _and_ he had acknowledged that muggleborns is just as good as purebloods.

"You wouldn´t do that kind of thing? Would you?" James asked for a brief moment uncertain.

Sirius stared horrified at him. "Of course not!" he exclaimed hurt as if it was really wrong of James to even think such thing, "the things they did was horrible! I can't believe you doubt me" the last thing hit James right in his heart as if it was a knife.

"I am so sorry, Sirius! I didn´t mean it like that" he took hold of Sirius´s shoulder and looked him right in his eyes, so he knew that he was serious. "I'm serious" he teased.

"No! I´m Sirius" he laughed, James joined the laugh. He hated when Sirius felt bad, that is a friend thing right? Hating when your friend fells bad and you would do everything to make them happy again. Is that what's its like to be friends? It feels like that.

James aimed for a hug, at first Sirius froze, but then he returned it. The warmth felt nice. Too embarrassed to hug for longer, Sirius and James let go of each other after two seconds. Sirius had never imagined a hug to be so nice.

"There´s tryouts for the Gryffindor Quidditch team today, we can see the last bit before lunch" James suggested. He had wanted to join the team himself, but first years weren´t allowed. Apparently.

Sirius agreed. They headed to the Quidditch pitch, none of them had seen it close before. It was a big… stadium. The Quidditch Pitch was five hundred feet long and a hundred and eighty feet wide, at each side of the pitch there is a scoring area with three hooped goal posts of different heights.

Sirius had been to the world cup once, when he was four or six, something like that. It was the only Quidditch game he had ever seen. He had never been allowed to actually _play_ Quidditch, it was the finest honor you could get at home if you were allowed. Neither him or Regulus had achieved that.

"Too bad you can't join this year" Sirius told James who send him a confused face.

"You say it like you aren´t going to join next year" James said and made a nervous laugh.

"I´m not" he said matter-of-factly. Sirius concentrated on the players, there was lots of both boys and girls, all Gryffindor of course. A sixth-year boy, Sirius guessed he was the captain, yelled instructions to the others.

"Oh please! It would be so much fun to do it with you" James insisted. The captain had already chosen one beater and the chasers. Sirius didn´t know their names, but there was three girls and one boy.

"I´m no Quidditch player ((he shook his head)) but you just go for it" Sirius smiled heartening.

The captain only needed to find a keeper, seeker and beater. Or, he would fill one of these positions, probably beater, there was still only one beater. He also has the right build for beater.

"You sure? You could always just try you know, the worst thing that can happen is that you get a no" he suggested.

Sirius simply just shook his head and smiled to James. It would be a lot of fun, but again, Sirius Black is no Quidditch player, James Potter is.

He still couldn´t believe that his parents were okay with him being friends with James, it was the thing he thought they would be mostly mad about.

"They aurors will stop the attacks wont they?" Sirius asked after a while, he didn´t look at James, but kept his eyes fixed on the new Gryffindor team, the captain was a beater. James hesitated before he answered.

"Yeah…" he said uncertain, James looked at Sirius, but Sirius just stared blankly at the sky.

"What will happen to them?"

"I don't know" James lied.

"Do you think they´ll go to Azkaban?"

James had tried to avoid talking about the attacks and Azkaban as much as possible. He wanted the attacks to stop, he wanted the criminals to be put into Azkaban. But… Sirius was his friend, and… it might be someone from his family who had been behind the attacks. James didn´t feel like he could speak freely about his with Sirius.

"I think so" he decided to say after a long pause.

"They deserve it, don't they?" Sirius asked quietly.

"Don't you think so?"

Sirius looked at James again. His face was sad, but there were no tears to be seen.

"I think they do" he smiled weakly.

None of them said anything for a long time, despite it still only being September it was freezing outside. They walked inside again, they didn´t really have the will to face the gloomy atmosphere in the great hall, so instead the two boys walked down to the kitchens.

The house-elves greeted them with lots of food and desserts as always. James tried to figure Sirius out. He was a snake… no! He isn´t a snake. He is a lion, just like James, but… a different one. A lion raised like a snake. The sorting hat had put Sirius in Gryffindor, so he _is_ a lion.

His whole family is Slytherins. Sirius had told him that he was the first Black to ever go to Gryffindor, his parents had expected him to be Slytherin, there had never been another option.

Who is Sirius? A lion raised by snakes or a snake dressed as a lion?

"Sorry"

"What?" James asked without thinking, Sirius apologize had come as a surprise to him.

"I´m sorry that… that you… that you don't feel like you can talk with me about this" Sirius didn´t look up as he spoke.

"Shut up!"

"What?" Sirius looked surprised at James.

"I said shut up! I don't want to hear you talk about yourself like that. It´s not your fault that I feel this way. So please just stop! If you want to talk about the attack, then tell me! It´s me who has a problem, you shouldn´t apologize for that" James exclaimed a bit too harshly. "I´m sorry, Sirius, it's just… I don't want to talk bad about your family" he admitted.

Sirius raised from where he sat and then sat next to James, he pulled the other boy into a hug. James returned the hug.

"This 'friends' thing is still pretty new, huh?" Sirius said for both of them.

"Yeah" James agreed.

They pulled apart again.

"Two hugs in one day. With this speed we´ll be married before our second year" Sirius teased, they both laughed.

It was moments like these they both appreciated, just being together, laughing. A little break from their normal life. Both boys knew that their lives would only get harder from here, at least they have each other.

Peter Pettigrew was glad to see that his friend was feeling better, he didn't look sick anymore. If what he had to do was cause some mischief with him, then let it be it.

Plus, he had to admit that it was actually just a little bit fun. Just a little. Or really much. They had lots of fun trying to avoid the places they had enchanted and make others touch them.

After lunch they had spend more time in the library, here they meet some other Gryffindor´s who had seen they tryouts.

"Sara Foster, Sally Thompson and Theodore Allen is chasers. Roy Sidney and Kristen Foster is beaters. Eileen Hill is keeper and my big sister Julie is seeker" Marlene McKinnon told Remus and Peter when they had asked who made the team.

"I´ve never heard of a girl-beater" Peter said confused, usually beaters would be boys because… boys are just more "build" for it.

"Me neither, but Kristen Foster is really good at it, she beat _all_ the boys who showed up" Debbie Law told him in awe.

"I really wish I could play Quidditch" Lily Evans said dreamy, "I think it's really fascinating, I can't wait for the first match"

"I think I will try to convince my parents to buy me a broom, so I can join next year" Mary Macdonald told them, she seemed really eager as far as Peter knew she was a muggleborn. So, to her everything about the wizarding world seemed exiting. "What about you guys, do you want to join?" she asked Peter and Remus.

Peter imagined himself on a broom. Remus just gave a short laugh then shook his head and mumbled something about him and his flying. Peter shook his head too when he remembered his first flying class.

"Not the biggest Quidditch fans huh?" Marlene McKinnon cut in.

"I don't know, I haven´t ever seen a match" Remus said quietly, Peter stared shocked at his friend.

"Isn´t your dad a wizard?" he asked.

"Yeah he is, and my mom is a muggle" Remus answered neutral.

"How come you never seen a match before then?" Lily Evans asked confused.

Remus´s face turned red, he looked down trying to hide it. He mumbled something.

"What?" Debbie Law asked.

"We´ve never had the money" he mumbled again.

Trying to avoid it to get worse for Remus, Peter quickly changed the subject.

"The first match is Gryffindor against Slytherin, who do you think is going to win?" he asked all the girls, of course they all hoped for Gryffindor to win, but Debbie thought that there might be a chance that Slytherin won, they were really good. Marlene McKinnon totally disagreed, according to her, her sister Julie McKinnon was the best seeker Gryffindor had ever had. Apparently, she had been her previous years too.

Lily Evans and Mary Macdonald didn´t know too much about Quidditch, Marlene McKinnon and Debbie Law had done their best to explain it, it gave them a good idea about how it is, but its not the same when you actually see the game.

The gloomy atmosphere that had been before had kind of disappeared, the Hufflepuffs were still quite at dinner, but the school were almost back to normal again.


	11. Operation third-prank

**I know that it has been long since my last update, and I'm starting school tomorrow, so it will only take longer, but I will continue!**

 **Remember to follow my Instagram; halfravenhalfclaw**

 **Cant believe that we hit more than 400 views, thank you so much everyone!**

 **DISCLAIMER have you guessed it? I don't owe the wizarding world, this is fanfiction. Fan-fiction. So lets all make God bless JK Rowling for existing.**

 **Last time: Remus´s and Peter´s first prank is a success. There had been an attack on a muggle-born Hufflepuff girls' family, Sirius doesn´t understand why and James does his best to explain it. There were tryouts for the Gryffindor Quidditch team.**

… **. …. …. …. …. …. ….**

 **Operation third-prank**

"I still don't understand" Sirius declared to James. It has been two days since the attack and Sirius wouldn´t let the subject go. He was determined to understand it but turns out James isn´t the perfect person to ask, he doesn´t know everything.

"And I don't know how to explain it, will you please let the subject go?" James answered for the ten-thousand time. He was getting really annoyed about all of these questions. "You haven´t talked about anything else since Saturday" it was true. Sirius was so caught up in the attack and asking James questions that he haven´t been able to think about _anything_ else. Not even Lupin, Snivellus or pranks.

"I know, its been two days James, and I still don't understand, would you please explain it again?" Sirius begged. It was Monday midday, the two boys were sitting outside while the weather still allowed it, they had just finished transfiguration and charms class.

"I don't know what else there is to explain" it was the same conversation over and over again.

"I just feel like you are holding something back" Sirius said hurt. James groaned inside himself, he was holding something back, but how could he ever tell Sirius what it is?

"Promise you won't get mad at me?"

"Of course!" Sirius exclaimed determined, yet still a little unsure.

James decided to go with it. "My family, and your family… kind of hates each other, and…" the words hung unspoken between them.

Sirius thought of it for a moment. So that was what James was holding back, it didn´t have anything to do with the attack, but about the people who did it. James thought that it was Sirius´s family who had done it, he just didn´t want to hurt Sirius feelings by saying so. That's why he didn´t want to talk about it or say what he thought about it.

He didn´t want to hurt his friend.

Sirius didn´t know what to do with himself, he wanted to be mad at James for thinking that his family had been behind the attack, but he had promised, and Sirius thought that they were too.

"You hate them too?" he asked unreadable to break the silence.

"You hated me when you found out I am a Potter" James pointed out and smiled.

"I did" Sirius smiled, "Not anymore"

James smiled all over his face. "I don't hate you either"

They pulled each other into a hug. It was weird how naturel it was to hug James, it felt warm and nice, Sirius didn´t know how he could ever live without it. How he had lived this far without it.

Sirius didn´t want to let go, but eventually they had to. He felt the warm from James chest disappear and missed it… Sirius snap out of it! A few weeks at Hogwarts and he had already changed his life point of view, become friends with a blood traitor and now he like to _hug_ people. The world had gone mad.

"Its been forever since we last did a prank" James hinted with a smirk on his face. Sirius found his best mischievous smile and rubbed his hands. The word pranks were sweet music to his ears.

"Anything in mind?" he asked expectant.

"Not yet" James said sad, "But we have to beat who ever made that fart-prank!"

A few days ago, the same day as the attack, someone had enchanted certain objects all around Hogwarts to fart every time anyone touched them. In the start it had caused lots of chaos, but now everyone was familiar with it, it was still funny though.

James and Sirius had used much of Saturday to find all the objects, they used one hour in the kitchens, nothing there but a lot of sweets. Lots of sweets. The prankster didn´t know about the kitchens then, it made them think that the prankster is probably a young student. If the person had spent six years in the castle without finding the kitchens, they wouldn´t be a very good prankster.

"What can be better than the fart-prank?" Sirius asked, it was kind of humiliating that in his whole prankster career, he had never made something as good as the fart-prank.

"What went wrong last time was that it didn´t cause any chaos, we need more chaos, lots of chaos"

"Chaos is good" Sirius agreed. "I think I know a potion" he said right after.

"Tell me" James begged eager.

"A few years ago, I brewed it at home and accidently spilled in on my mom, you should have seen her face, she was furious. I don't think I've ever made her that mad, that was the worst punishment ever…" Sirius told James. After he had spilled all over her, Sirius´s father used a spell on her, so it did go away. They punished him by locking him in his room without food, water and light for two full days.

"What's the name of the potion?"

Sirius snapped out of his memories, Grimmauld place seemed so far away from here, which remined Sirius that he had promised to write to Regulus. "Uhh… Swelling solution, it causes what ever it touches to swell, it can easily be reversed with a simple spell" Sirius said, his excitement grew when the idea of the prank came back to him.

"That's brilliant. It will cause so much chaos" James said dreamy, Sirius laughed. "Do you know how to brew it?"

Sirius scratch his head. "Err, not really, but its in our potions book, so we can find it there"

"Its in our potions book?!" James exclaimed and quickly opened his bag to find the potions book. He looked through all the pages before he found it. "Perfect, its beginner level" he said happily.

"Do we have to steal any ingredients?" Sirius asked and looked at the recipe.

"Hmm… nope, only things that are allowed for us, we can get the ingredients in Potions today" James said after he had read the whole page.

They wandered off to potions so they wouldn´t be late, on the way they discussed how they should use the potion on students. James suggested that they used it in the pumpkin juice again, but Sirius thought that it wouldn´t work, after one student drank from it, no one else would. And they didn´t know how the body would react if you drink it.

Of course, they could also make it fall from the roof, but could they do that? Maybe if they could fill a bucket with it and hang it from the ceiling or… dungbombs.

That's it! If they could make some dungbombs and place the potion inside of it, there would be swelling solution everywhere when the dungbomb exploded. Dungbombs is really a life saver. Now their only problem was their need of dungbombs.

James and Sirius were the first persons to arrive, Slughorn was probably still in his office. Sirius walked over to the student store cupboard, it was a cupboard filled with potions ingredients that students should use in their potions. He nicked some puffer-fish eyes, dried nettle and bat spleens.

Meanwhile James was putting some itching powder on Snivellus´s table.

"What about Lupin?" Sirius asked when he had put the ingredients in his bag.

"I don't know, should we?" James asked uncertain.

"We could also use more on Snivellus´s table and chair, and some other Slytherins" he suggested. Sirius still wasn´t sure how he felt about only pranking Slytherins, but that was what James wanted, so Sirius decided to just go with it. They decided to go with that, while James was spreading the itching powder on the Slytherins tables and chairs, Sirius kept watch by the door.

Sirius heard voices and footsteps coming. "Quick James, someone is coming" he whispered. His friend quickly dropped the last of the itching powder, took off his gloves and joined Sirius at their seat. Pettigrew and Lupin entered. Lupin stared suspiciously at them.

"What have you done?" he accused.

The two pranksters both did their best in looking hurt and offended. How was Lupin able to tell? Did he have some sixth sense, or did he just guess?

"Who us?" James asked innocently.

Lupin just rolled his eyes and shook his head. On his way to his and Pettigrew´s table, Lupin carefully tried not to touch any tables or chairs. James gave Sirius a questioning look, who shrugged his shoulders. They had both seen the way Lupin avoided the places that had been covered with itching powder.

How did he know about that? The powder shouldn´t be visible.

Slughorn entered the classroom and prepared for the lesson. Other students also entered. The bell rang, and the last students entered. Sirius gave a side glance to the Slytherins, some of them have already began scratching their hands.

The lesson began as usual, Slughorn presented a potion they should make, told them how to brew it. Though, none of the Slytherins could concentrate, by now they had all been touching either their chairs or tables with their slimy-Slytherin hands.

Other Gryffindors had discovered it too, Bing, Hornsby and Kent were trying their hardest not to laugh. Law was the only girl who didn´t send the guys disgusted looks. Slughorn didn´t notice. Lupin was the only person who seemed to know who was behind it, he didn´t say anything, just tried to ignore the Slytherins whose scratching became worse.

Why didn´t he say anything? He knows its them. Perhaps he is just waiting, or maybe just didn´t want to turn them in after what happened last time.

Professor Slughorn finally saw what was going on, he told the students with itching to wash their hands, but when they touched tables and chairs again, it came back.

Once again, they had to wash their hands that was becoming red of all the scratching. Slughorn tried to continue, but even he had to give up at some point, instead he tried to find the source. All students had to sit completely still ((which was really hard for the Slytherins)) so he could find out where it comes from.

It took some time but eventually he found the itching powder on the tables and chairs. Slughorn usually wasn´t the person to get mad, but today was apparently not a good day for him. His face was more red than an oculus potion.

He yelled up about "fools" and "ungrateful" and "kids those days". All the time Sirius expected Lupin to tell that it was him and James, but he didn´t, he just sat with a natural face. He is difficult to make out.

Slughorn made all the Slytherins and Gryffindors ((he didn´t know who had done it, so decided to make everyone suffer from it)) clean the tables. Lupin cleaned up just like everyone else, still didn´t say anything. When they had finished cleaning up the class was over, and everyone left.

In the hallway, when there was no one around, Sirius asked James the question that had bothered him. "Why do you think Lupin didn´t turn us in?" he asked serious.

"I have no idea, maybe he just knows better" James answered. That was probably it, they had probably terrified him from doing it again, the last time he had gotten detention and everything.

"This was todays last lesson, we can begin on the potion now, but not in the dorm this time, Lupin and Pettigrew will just find out" Sirius said exited, he came back to the prank.

"Maybe we can find a secret corridor or something" James said equally exited. "My dad told me about one, behind Gregory the Smarmy or something, maybe we can do it there"

"Great" Sirius clapped his hands, "Where do we find him?"

James thought about it, then he made a nervous laugh. "I have no idea" he admitted.

"Not idea at all?"

"Well… I know its somewhere inside of Hogwarts" he said cheerful.

"Great" Sirius said sarcastic. "Then we only have to look trough ((he counted on his fingers)) seven floors and the dungeons"

"Ha ha ha" James rolled his eyes, "We can just ask someone" he said reasonable.

"Or we can look right here" Sirius said and stopped.

"What?" James asked surprised.

"We can look right here" he repeated and pointed at the statue in front of them, "That's Gregory the Smarmy"

How Sirius was able to tell was a mystery for James, there wasn´t any big signs that said 'this is Gregory the Smarmy' or anything. Only a little one that you would have to get really close to read. "How can you tell?" James asked curious.

"How can you _not_ tell" Sirius exclaimed. "He invented Gregory's Unctuous Unction potion _and_ he is on chocolate frog cards" he said as if it was obvious.

All James could see was some old statue of some old wizard. He was bald, had a bit fat and looked a tiny bit evil. "Gregory's Unctu… what so ever, does exactly what?" he asked to show just a bit interest in it.

"Gregory's Unctuous Unction" Sirius corrected him, "It makes, whoever you give it to, believe that you´re their best friend. Kind of like a love potion, but not as strong. He is really incredible, I want to be on a chocolate frog card too one day or invent my own potion" he said dreamy.

"You didn´t use that Potion on me, did you?" James teased.

"No of course not!" he exclaimed seriously, then he realized what James had said, "I am your best friend?" Sirius asked touched.

"Yeah…" James said shyly and opened his arms for a hug, Sirius walked up to give it. They both enjoyed the two seconds hug. Then he suddenly remembered something, "my dad invented a potion, the Sleekeazy's Hair Potion" he told Sirius when they had pulled apart from each other.

"What's it for?" Sirius asked interested, he was at bit shocked at first that he had never heard about it, but then again, it was invented by a Potter. Everyone knows what the Blacks thinks of the Potters.

"Its for hair, it makes it less bushy and unruled, and makes it easier to style… why are you laughing?" James had been interrupted by Sirius who burst out in laugh. "What?" he asked annoyed.

"Your dad… invented a potion… that styles hair… but your hair…" Sirius gasped for air between talking and laughing, James had caught onto it too, so he joined the laughing.

"I know I know. I know that my hair is messy, why do you think he invented it?" James asked when they had finished laughing.

"Then why don't you use it?" he asked confused.

"Cause it's too much trouble to use every day, I mean, have you seen this?" James pointed at his hair, that looked more like a bird's nest than hair. To say it lightly.

Some of the portraits looked weird at them, others ignored them. The portraits inside of Hogwarts usually didn´t like loud noises, though they really liked gossip, maybe they could help James and Sirius.

Sirius decided to try on an elegant looking witch. "Excuse me ma'am" The woman looked surprised at him, the portraits weren´t all used to students talking to them. "Could you tell me how we find the secret passageway behind Gregory the Smarmy" he made sure to use his finest and most persuasive voice.

It worked, she blushed and told that they just had to press on his eyes. Sirius smirked to James, they had found the perfect place to brew the potion. They each pressed an eye and saw the stature of Gregory the Smarmy move to the side and reveal a secret passageway.

The two pranksters walked in, and Gregory moved in front of hole and blocked the light. It sends a chill down Sirius´s spine, he quickly said "Lumos". The passageway was dark, and there haven't been anyone here for a very long time. The place was filled with spider webs.

"A little dusty ((James coughed)) but it´ll work" he said optimistic.

"Its perfect" Sirius agreed, "I don't think anyone has been here since your father though."

"That just means that no one who is currently at Hogwarts knows about it" James pointed out.

"You are right about that" Sirius agreed, "Should we get a cauldron and begin?" he was once again exited for the prank.

"We definitely shouldn´t just hang out here" James said and dragged Sirius out of the passageway and up to the dorm. Before that he left the ingredients there.

Sirius made sure to wink to the portrait that had helped them when they walked by. After more than two weeks at Hogwarts, James and Sirius had finally got an okay idea how to travel around the castle and learned never to ask Peeves for help.

Luckily, they were both used to navigate around big places, seeing as both of them grew up wealthy, in big houses. So, it actually didn´t take very long for neither of them, most students their year still had trouble doing it.

In their dorm, James grabbed a cauldron and covered it with his invisibility cloak, this time they wouldn´t get caught. They were about to leave when they found Lupin standing in the door. Sirius gestured him to move, he didn´t.

"Thanks" he said finally.

"For what?" James asked confused.

"Uhh… For not putting itching powder on my and Peters table, of course" Lupin said shyly and a bit confused.

Sirius snorted. "You thought that we didn´t put it on your table because we like you?" he asked harshly. Lupins face clearly said that, that was what he had thought.

"You did, didn´t you?" James asked laughingly. "You thought we were going to be friends now? Really? Look Lupin, we simply didn´t have more powder, so don't feel special." He had found the old talk-to-Lupin-like-he-is-insane voice back.

"I did not!" Lupin said firmly.

"Sure" Sirius said disbelieving, "But hey, we did you a favor, now do us a favor and go to hell." He teased, James laughed.

"I have already been there"

That's what he said, it was the only thing he said, and then he left. He left James and Sirius to stare confused at each other. There was no joke to track in his voice, what did he mean that he had been in hell? Sirius would give anything to know what he meant.

Instead of talking about it, they both just walked out of the dorm. Lupin was sitting with Pettigrew in the common-room, ignoring them completely.

None of them said anything before they were back in the passageway behind Gregory the Smarmy.

"Do you think he was joking?" James finally asked.

"Of course" Neither of them truly believed Sirius. It was the way he had said it, no trace of a joke, death serious. His face had gone completely pale and his eyes again looked haunted.

They tried to concentrate about operation double-up again. Sirius found the potions-book while James made the cauldron ready. All the while they talked about how they should get dungbombs.

James suggested that they asked his father, Sirius didn´t believe that it would work. James said that it wouldn´t hurt to try. Maybe, just maybe, they would get the dungbombs. When Sirius was still skeptical, James simply asked if he had a better idea, that shut his mouth.

"Now it only needs to brew for one hour" James told when he had waved his wand over the mixture. "Should we get something to eat and send the letter?"

"Sounds great, I also have to send my brother a letter, I promised, and I haven´t done it yet." He felt a little guilty for not having send a letter yet, but there was so many other things to do, Sirius hadn´t had the time. With pranks and homework, he simply just forgot.

At dinner, Lupin still ignored them. Sirius and James found a seat as long away from everybody else as they could.

"Do you think Lupin is going to turn us in again?" Sirius whispered so that no one would be able to hear them.

"No, he knows what will happen if he does" answered James. Sirius nodded.

"Can you believe he thought we didn´t target him because we liked him?" he asked shocked.

"Yes"

"What?" now Sirius stared shocked at his friend. Did he want to befriend Lupin?

"Think about it. If someone had been after you, and then someday they weren´t, without any explanation at all, wouldn´t you think that it meant something?" James asked, wanting an honest answer from Sirius.

Apparently, James knew exactly what to say, unlike Sirius, who had no idea.

"Why are you suddenly on his side?" he asked hurt.

"Sirius, I´m not!" James exclaimed, "I´m just saying that it makes sense, maybe he just wants to be our friend."

Sirius didn´t answer at first. How could James do that? How could he just say something like that? Did he actually want to befriend Lupin and Pettigrew? Were they already friends behind Sirius´s back?

James looked pleadingly at Sirius to get an answer. "Do you want to be his friend?" Sirius asked quietly at last.

"I´m _your_ friend, Sirius"

"I know… but do you want to be his friend too?" he didn´t look up as he spoke.

"What do you mean? I want to be _your_ , and I am your friend." James insisted, "I don't know if I want to be his friend, I´m just saying that he wants to be ours." When Sirius didn´t answer James continued, "I don't care about being his friend or not, but I care about being your friend."

Finally, Sirius looked up, James´s face was serious. He had meant every word.

"I care about being your friend too. And I´m sorry I overreacted."

"That's okay"

They both wanted to hug, but there was a table in front of them, instead they decided to shake hands. It was getting late, they hurried to finish dinner, so they could send the letters before they had to finish the potion.

The dorm was empty, each boy found their own piece of parchment and began writing the letters. It took a while for Sirius before he started, he had to figure out what to say.

 _Dear Regulus Black._

 _I know I promised to write every day, but so many things had happened. I didn´t have the time._

 _I also know that it didn´t go as expected, I assume mother and father told you that I am in Gryffindor, not Slytherin as we had thought. We can still hang out right?_

 _Hogwarts is so much better than we had imagined, its easy to make friends seeing as most students have been home schooled just like us, therefor haven´t had friends before. Though, no one, besides us, have been taught magic from home._

 _The feasts are delicious, and I have already found the kitchens and one secret passageway._

 _I miss you really much, but I'll be home for Christmas, so I see you then, I still hope you are going to write to me before that though._

 _See you soon_

 _Your brother_

 _Sirius Black_

Sirius read it through a few times to make sure he hadn´t misspelled anything. James had already sealed his letter, and just waited for Sirius to get done.

They walked to the owlery together, James used his own owl while Sirius used a school-owl. His parents had promised that if he got really good grades this year they would buy him an owl.

Wonder what James did to deserve his.

If you thought about it was kind of weird that they should be friends. The Blacks is the largest and wealthiest pure-blood families that had ever been, you can't find any family who is purer, and care more about pure-blood than them. The Potters on the other hand, they were pure, but no one saw them as pure because they are so called blood-traitors.

Every Potter has always been Gryffindor. Every Black ((except Sirius)) has always been Slytherin.

The two families couldn´t be more different.

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	12. Yet another full moon

**Phew a new chapter update, next chapter will take a little longer to come out cause I will be a little busy the next few weekends, plus I train, go to school and work…**

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 **DISCLAIMER I don't owe Harry Potter, the great and powerful JK Rowling does that… and guess what, I'll have God bless her. So, God bless JK please.**

 **Last time: Sirius and James are planning their third-prank, they don't target Remus doing their little itching-powder episode, which leads him to believe that they want to be friends. Sirius sends a letter to his brother.**

… **. …. …. …. …. …. ….**

 **Yet another full moon**

There was really no way of denying it, the full moon was coming closer and Remus began to feel worse again.

The last couple of weeks had passed in a rush. The prank him and Pete had made turned out perfectly, he even overheard Black and Potter admiring it. His heart beamed with pride, maybe if he told them that he did it, they would give him another chance. And Peter of course.

One day in potions, someone ((guess who)) had put itching powder on most tables and chairs in the classroom. Remus was delighted not to see any on his and Peters table. They hadn´t done it to them. That's why he decided not to turn them in. That and what the consequences was last time.

Even though it turned out that they didn´t actually not put it on their table because they liked him. Remus couldn´t make himself regret his decision not to turn them in, maybe if he just did go easy on them, maybe they would begin to like him.

Though it was embarrassing of him confirming their suspicions. He wants to be their friend, it was too much. So before going easy on them he would, he would ignore them until they forgot about it.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was brilliant, Remus had ((as one of the first in their class)) mastered _both_ Petrificus Totalus and the counter-curse to it. It was still surprising him that Professor Casher knew about him and still liked him this much. Perhaps the other professors did too, but they weren´t allowed to favorize, Professor Casher obviously didn´t care about that much, but she was also only supposed to be here for a year.

It was one day during lunch that Remus thought about something.

He hadn´t got revenge yet.

Of course, he actually had, but Black and Potter had gotten again too. So, they weren´t even. If they were even it would be much easier for Remus to… be okay with them. He had to do it without involving teachers, and without them finding out about it.

Maybe he should pull a prank on them? A prank would be innocent ((okay not completely innocent)) and they would be more likely to accept it. If he could make them believe that it was a Slytherin who had done it, that would be perfect.

Remus decided not to involve Peter, this wasn´t his concern. Plus, the less people who knew the lesser were the chance of him getting exposed.

"What do you want to do after lunch?" Peter asked and pulled Remus out of his own thoughts.

"I don't know, did you have anything in mind?" he asked. It was Saturday morning, Remus weren´t at all behind with his homework anymore, he had planned on using the day planning the prank or get ahead with the homework, but if Peter wanted to do something fun, he would rather that.

"Some of the other guys have planned on swimming in the black lake, I know it´s a bit cold, but it could be fun" he said quickly, he had been thinking about asking for a long time.

"I´m not really into swimming, you know I kind of have…" Remus trailed off, he hoped that Peter would guess he had hydrophobia ((afraid of water)) by the look on his face, he had. The truth was that if any of the others saw his body they would guess about him. "But I can still come with you" he offered when Peter looked sad.

Then he could use the time to think about what prank he should make.

"Oh-okay" Peter answered. Remus could smell the embarrassment from all over here, but why was Peter embarrassed? He hadn´t done anything wrong.

"Which boys is coming?" he asked quickly so Peter wouldn´t feel embarrassed.

"Frank Longbottom, David Thomas and Kenneth Bing, though Debbie Law and Marlene McKinnon might come too" he told, Remus nodded.

"They are that kind of boyish girls?" Remus asked, not at all interested.

Peter and Remus meet with the other boys after lunch, they headed for their dorms to get towels and then wandered off to the lake. It was chilly outside, and Remus was relieved that he had a good excuse not to be in the water, though none of the others knew this excuse.

The boys took off their clothes but kept underwear in case the girls would show up. After about ten minutes the guys were freezing, that's when Hagrid the groundskeeper showed up. He laughed a little about them, then he started a little fire with a pink umbrella, he also made sure to tell them never to light a fire without supervision.

Then the girls showed up, Debbie Law, Marlene McKinnon, Mary Macdonald and Lily Evans. Only Debbie Law and Marlene McKinnon joined the boys in the water, they had been so thoughtful to bring swimsuits, why they would bring a swimsuit to Hogwarts was a mystery to Remus.

Lily Evans, Mary Macdonald and Remus heard Hagrid tell stories about Hogwarts while the others switched between being in the water and being warm by the fire. Hagrid told one about giant spiders in the forbidden forest, Lily and Mary didn´t believe it, they thought he just wanted them to not enter the forest, but Remus could sense that they were actually terrified by the thought of giant spiders, what would they think if they knew there was a werewolf right next to them?

Remus himself could sense that Hagrid didn´t lie and mentally noted that he should never enter the forest.

The others had just gone back to the water when Black and Potter showed up.

"Hey guys mind if we join?" Potter yelled to them.

"What are you waiting for?" Kenneth Bing yelled back. Potter turned to Black to say something, Remus concentrated so he could hear what they said.

"Are you coming?" Potter asked exited.

Black pulled a face then mumbled, "I´m not in the mood"

"Please" Potter pressed on, he didn´t want to go without his friend.

"I´ll be waiting here" he simply replied.

Potter seemed to give up, he took off most of his clothes and dropped it where the other boys had too, Black kept standing where he stood, and stared. Remus tried not to look at him too obvious and act like he heard Hagrid's new story. Black just stared at the other boys, he didn´t even try to hide it, his face looked puzzled.

Remus wished that the fire wasn´t between them, the smoke made it hard for him to smell Black´s feelings. Smell someone's feelings. Stop that Remus! Don't give into the wolf, smell someone´s feelings. Really? Has anyone ever heard anything sound less human?

Hagrid invited Black to sit with them. He looked skeptical at first, but then gave in, perhaps he was tired of standing up, he had also by now got a really good look at the boys. The grounds keeper gestured to the place next to Remus who tried his best to look like he didn´t care.

To his surprise Black actually sat next to him, with the same look at his face as Remus.

"Do any of ya have a story to 'ell?" asked Hagrid expectant. "Lupin?"

"Uhh…" okay Remus don't fail now, be cool, be cool, and whatever you do, _don't_ stutter, "N-no, n-not r-really" he mumbled, for Merlin´s sake, what part of 'don't stutter' didn´t you get?

Black raised his eyebrow at Remus. "Ya Black?" Hagrid asked.

"No, I don't have any stories to tell" he replied politely.

Remus sat completely still, he didn´t dare to move let alone breath too much. Black sat right next to him and done anything yet, but it was probably just because Hagrid was there and could see his every movement.

"Do you sometimes do pranks on your parents or siblings at home?" Black asked, he asked openly but it felt like the question was mostly to Remus and Hagrid.

"My dad was a muggle, sometime' I used to pick him up and put him on top of the dresser. He laughed much abou' that" Hagrid said thinking back, he smiled for himself at the memory. Remus wished he had that kind of fun memories too.

"You?" Black asked Remus quickly and exited, though his face looked bored.

You can handle this Remus, don't stutter. "Uhh… not really, you see my mom… she´s ill, and I don't want to trouble my dad, he already has too much to think about." Remus tried to look sad at the thought of his mother. What he had this was partly true. He didn´t want to trouble them any further.

Black didn´t seem to be satisfied with the answers. He asked another question, just like the first one this was only for Remus and Hagrid, Lily Evans and Mary Macdonald had started their own conversation. "But what if you do something you´re actually not allowed to, what is your punishment?"

Again, Hagrid started, "Well, my dad was so much smaller than me, so he could never 'eally yell at me" he admitted.

"I never do anything I´m not allowed to…" Remus admitted ashamed, great, now he sounded like a prize boy or something. The first time Black actually talked to him ((though it was weird questions)) without saying mean things, and Remus should sound like a prize boy.

Black who still wasn´t satisfied ask Remus one more question, "What if you did something you weren´t allowed to, what would your punishment be?" he asked Remus looking directly at him.

"I guess I would be grounded." Remus answered, though it sounded more like a question than a statement.

"For how long?"

"A couple of days I think… matters on what I did"

"And just that? Nothing else?" Black sounded eager, like he really needed to know this.

"Yeah"

"And you would be allowed to get out? Like to use the bathroom and eat?" he sounded and looked confused. Black had totally lost the bored face.

"Of course!" Remus exclaimed, "Why wouldn´t I be allowed to do that? Why are you even asking about this?" he asked serious and confused.

"No reason" Black replied, then he stared into the fire like there was no one else around him. He was completely lost in his own thoughts and send a clear message ((even humans would be able to sense it)) that he didn´t wanted to be disturbed.

Remus turned his attention to Hagrid, Lily Evans and Mary Macdonald. They were talking about some muggle stuff, though Remus couldn´t move his thoughts from Black. They had just _talked_ like actually talked together just the two of them, was this some sick trick him and Potter had made?

"Will you tell James I got back to the dorm?" Black asked after a while of ignoring each other.

"Okay"

Then Black raised from his seat and walked away, the fire was dying so Hagrid took his umbrella up again and blew on the fire started again. A few seconds later the water-fighting people came back to get warm by the fire.

"Where did Sirius go?" Potter asked when he noticed that his friend weren´t there.

"He walked back to the dorm" Remus told Potter just as he had promised.

"Did he say why?"

"No"

Potter didn´t answer that.

…. … …. …. …. …. ….

"I have to visit my mom now" Remus told an early Monday evening.

Peter and Remus were sitting in the common-room doing the homework they had gotten earlier that day, they had almost just finished dinner. The last few days Remus had seemed to be more tired and he looked really bad.

"Okay… see you in a few days" _right_?

"Of course" he smiled reassuring.

Though it didn´t calm Peter down, once again he had to go to school without his best friend.

"Bye" said Peter quietly.

Remus didn´t answer but just left the common-room.

"Hey Peter, want to hang out with us?" Frank Longbottom who had just come asked, he and the other boys obviously had seen Remus left, Peter gladly accepted the invitation.

At the table where the others were sitting were, Frank Longbottom, Kenneth Bing, Paul Hornsby, Stephen Kent and David Thomas. Frank Longbottom and David Thomas were playing chess and Kenneth Bing, Paul Hornsby and Stephen Kent were playing exploding snap.

"Want to play exploding snap with us?" Paul Hornsby asked.

"Of course" Peter exclaimed, he was relieved that maybe he could hang out with these guys while Remus was gone, maybe he and Remus could hang out with them at all times, they would both like that.

"Where did Remus go?" David Thomas asked after he his knight had slayed Frank´s knight.

"His mom is ill, so he goes visit her from time to time, this is the second time." Peter told them. The second time my best friend left me alone here.

"Why didn´t he want to swim with the rest of us?"

"I saw you and Remus do some spells all around the castle, did you make that fart-prank?"

"I heard that Black and Potter has a thing against Remus, what is it?"

Kenneth Bing, Stephen Kent and Paul Hornsby asked all the questions fast and at almost the same time, Peter didn´t have time to register them, or answer, before Frank said something.

"Guys let him breathe, but though, I am curious, what´s up with Remus?" Frank Longbottom asked looking directly at Peter who needed just a second to gather his thoughts.

"Uhh… he suffers from hydrophobia, and yes we did the fart-prank. I have no idea what's between Remus, Black and Potter." Peter told them truthfully.

Peter couldn´t read the expressions on their faces.

"So, you are that type of prankster type just like Black and Potter, huh?" David Thomas said when there had been a moment of silence. His face expressed nothing, but by the way he said it, it was clear that he didn´t have big thoughts about pranks.

By the new looks on the other boys faces, they thought the same thing.

"Actually, he did it, I just came along because… you know…" he tried, it worked cause the others nodded.

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

Fair enough, Peter didn´t know what was going on with Remus right now.

"Hi Madam Pomfrey" Remus said quietly when he entered the hospital wing and saw the school´s nurse doing… he actually didn´t what she was doing, but that didn´t matter.

"Hi Mr. Lupin, are you ready now?" she asked sweetly, he nodded silently even though he actually wasn´t ready. Madam Pomfrey followed Remus out of the hospital wing, inside the whomping willow and then the shrieking shack.

At least this time wouldn´t be as bad as the last one, he always felt worse if he had been driving near the full moon.

Madam Pomfrey left Remus in the same bedroom as last time. He took off all his clothes and placed it in the wardrobe as last time. The full moons were always the same. The sickness, the pain, the more pain, the healing and then after less than a month; more sickness. Just the thought of a full moon made Remus feel sick.

Remus laid down on the bed, under the duvet, trying to just get a little warm, then…

Moon

Pain…

Hurt…

 _Howls…_

 _Blood…_

 _Wolf…_

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

Peter spend the next few days with the boys from the other dorm. It wasn´t as magical and fantastic as he had thought. They had late-night conversations that Peter couldn´t be apart of, they already knew each other pretty well. He felt like an outsider with them, even more than without them.

He tried to get the best out of it, but the more time Peter spent with them, the more he missed Remus.

The most interesting thing that had happened was that someone had pulled a prank. The pranksters had filled dungbombs with a potion that made everything it touched swell in size. They exploded in the middle of lunch the day after Remus had left.

It caused a lot of chaos and everyone panicked until the teachers managed to get everyone quiet. Then they reversed the potion. It had actually been really fun, and Peter wanted to laugh, but the others weren´t so fond of it. What have happened with the way the laughed in potions that one day? Perhaps it was only fun when others had to suffer from it.

That evening, the boys had spent it in the library, but actually without Remus there was much less library, though Peter would _live_ in the library if it meant that Remus would come back, the boys had separated when they had reached the dorm. Peter was once again alone, but only for one second.

The first thing Peter saw when he entered the dorm was that Remus´s bed weren´t empty. Remus was lying in it, fully dressed. It looked as if he had just passed out, he had some chocolate in his one hand and it had melted on his face and the pillow. He was curled up as a little ball and his mouth was open, as he was about to eat that chocolate.

Carefully, so he wouldn´t wake up, Peter took the duvet and covered Remus with it. "Goodnight my friend" he whispered and then closed the bed curtains.

Peter slept much better that night knowing that Remus was in the bed right next to his.

The next morning was the first time Peter had wakened up before Remus. Peter went over to wake him up and found him in the exacts same position he had left him in last night.

"Remus wake up" Peter said as he gently shook his friend by his shoulders. Before he could react Remus´s hand smashed right into Peters face, which quickly followed by an apologetic Remus.

"Oh, Merlin Peter I´m so sorry, I didn´t mean to" Remus exclaimed panicked.

"Its okay Remus, I´m fine" he laughed, while his nose dunked.

"Really? Cause your nose is bleeding." Remus teased.

Peter´s hand flew up to his nose, then he moved his hand down to see his fingers. They were covered in blood. "And you have chocolate all over your face" he backfired.

The same way as Peter had done it, Remus´s hand flew up to his face to get the chocolate away. "Is it gone?" he asked while scrubbing his face.

"Nope"

More scrubbing. "Now?"

"No"

"How about now?" Remus asked annoyed.

"Njah"

"Peter"

"Yes"

"Are you teasing me now?"

"No…"

"Peter!" Remus laughed.

"Perhaps" he admitted and joined the laughing. "No really, you could use a mirror and some water, its all over your face." Peter told him.

Remus tried to touch all of his face to just get some kind of idea how much chocolate there was. "Ow and its on my bed too" he said regretful, "and my clothes"

"It's okay Remus, it´ll be clean" Peter comforted. How he actually didn´t really know.

"I´ll take a quick bath" Remus told. He found some clean clothes and left for the bathroom. If there was something that Peter had learned from his time without Remus, it was that he was always late for breakfast. Remus was good at waking up early and waking Peter up early.

He heard the shower turn on from the other side of the door. "You have to hurry" Peter yelled, "we´re a little late because you didn´t wake me up"

"Yeah, just blame me!" he yelled from the shower, but it was in a teasing voice. Peter smiled to himself, Remus was back and that was good.

Remus quickly came out of the shower, even though he had been sleeping like a rock all night, he looked exhausted. The two boys walked together down for breakfast.

"What have happened since I left?" Remus asked and put a sausage in his mouth.

"Not much, you weren´t gone that long. Someone -and I think we both have an idea who- filled dungbombs with a potion that made everyone swell in size, it was really fun." Peter told him, he didn´t know if he should also tell that he had been hanging out with the other boys, would Remus be jealous?

Remus made a small laugh. "That must have looked funny" he agreed.

"It was, someone´s nose ((Frank, but Remus didn´t have to know that)) got so much that it turned bigger than Filch´s, it was ginormous" he told, and Remus laughed.

Even though he probably shouldn´t, Peter dreaded the day Remus would leave him again. As they say; don't dwell in the past and forget to live, but… it was hard not to, when everything you could think of when you see your friend is that they´ll leave you again.

Have you ever wished something was different than it was, that everything was easier? Peter did, but he doesn't have the right. Its not _his_ mom who is sick, its Remus. Remus should wish for things to be different, he probably does, but not Peter. He does not have a valid reason to wish for things to be different, not compared to Remus at least.

The next few days was spent in the library. Like they always did after Remus had visited his mom. Peter like usually didn´t mind, he could really use this extra time in the library, then Remus could help him too, fun how Remus was able to skip classes and still be better than Peter.

The next day in Defense Against the Dark arts was good, everyone in the class ((yes even Peter)) had learned Pretificus Totalus and the counter-curse, so today they were going to learn something new. Professor Casher was as always late, but she had signed them new partners, Peter and Remus had got together.

"Hello class" she greeted lightly, "today we will try to cast the curse of the Bogies. Can anyone tell me what that is?"

As expected, Lily Evans and Remus´s hands flew up into the air, unexpectedly, Black´s didn't, which was probably the first time ever, usually he took every opportunity to show off and earn house-points. He also didn´t even look like he paid attention.

"A curse of Bogies gives the victim an extremely runny nose and an extreme cold" Lily Evans told when Professor Casher pointed at her.

"Good, good Evans, ten points to Gryffindor" Professor Casher announced. "Does anyone want to show the rest of the class?" everyone in the class room immediately turned silent, it was one thing to not being able to cast the spell, a whole other thing was not being able to cast the spell in front of the entire class.

"If you don't do it voluntarily I will just pick someone" she tried. Everyone remained silent and just waited for her to choose the two doomed students. She sighed, "Lupin and Evans, will you come up here please?" it wasn't an offer.

Peter could question sometimes why Remus liked Defense Against the Dark Arts and professor Casher so much, she always chooses him to do spells in front of the class.

Evans and Remus walked up to her table and raised their wands, then waited for her to count down. They cast the spell on the _exact_ same time, if you had blinked you would have missed it, they shot the spells that somehow hit each other and rebounded, so Remus and Evans got hit by their own curse. Both noses immediately started running, Black and Potter ((who was in opposite sides of the class room)) laughed as snot ran out of Remus and Evans´s noses. They both desperately tried to stop it with their hands, which didn't help because there was still snot everywhere.

A little late Professor Casher performed the counter-curse and used a spell to remove all the snot. Evans and Remus looked relieved and found back to their seats.

"Good, good, now find your partner and some tissues, call me when you need to perform the counter curse, begin" she smiled brightly and handed out tissues to all the students.

"How are you so good?" Peter asked with interest as he handed Remus some tissues he got from Professor Casher.

"I don't know" he simply replied, then Remus looked as he just remembered a bad memory, after that his face returned to normal and he shrugged his shoulders.

"Can I do this now?" Peter asked to change the subject.

"I don't know, can you?" Remus asked teasingly.

Peter laughed, it was sure good to have Remus back.

 **Please review, it makes me so happy**


	13. It's dinner time

**I´m sorry I havent posted in so long, I had a writers block, if you did follow my Instagram you would know.**

 **We hit almost 800 views thank you all so much!**

 **I´ll make the chapters shorter from now on so I can post more often.**

 **I began writing a new fanfic with wolfstar, you can check it out if you want, its called "HIM wolfstar"**

 **DISCLAIMER im not Jk Rowling, and she is going to be blessed, God bless JK**

 **Last time: some of the Gryffindor first years was hanging out in the lake, neither Remus or Sirius joined in the water. Remus had yet another full moon. Peter learned that hanging out with Frank and CO. wasn't was fun as he had thought.**

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

 **Its dinner time.**

"I can believe that your father actually gave you dungbombs" Sirius whispered surprised at breakfast. The swelling solution were all ready now, James had just received a package from his dad with dungbombs and a letter that said he needed to pay for them, and not tell _anyone_ ((especially not his mom)) that he had gotten James dungbombs.

James grinned, he hadn´t believed that his dad would give him them either. Perhaps he still felt guilty for not being there to set him on the train September the first. Which he really shouldn´t be. He had been a little disappointed, yes, but James was fine now.

"Me neither, but now we can finish operation double-up." He said happily. Sirius smiled a mischievous smile, very mysterious.

They would do it at dinner tonight.

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

"Sirius?" James called when he entered the dorm. He had been having fun by the lake with the other boys, Sirius hadn´t wanted to join, which was fine, but then he had left without saying anything. James had immediately walked back to the dorm, if Sirius was sad, then he would be sure to make it stop.

Sirius was rather… sensitive, when James talked about the other boys, like befriending them, or just hang out with them. It was really important to the boy that he knew that James wanted him and no one else. James tried his best to show that, but… honestly, he wanted to make more friends.

It was just… he couldn´t leave Sirius, he just couldn´t. They were friends, good friends, and they had something together that James didn´t feel like he could get with anyone else. They were pranksters, true Gryffindors, together, no one else they knew were pranksters too.

"Yeah?" a voice from Sirius´s bed said, he looked expectant at James. Sirius also looked confused, not about James talking to him, it was something else. Something that James didn´t know about and would never know about.

James didn´t have any scars.

Neither had _any_ of the other boys. Sirius had, he had scars from the countless times he had been punished. He had been slapped, starved and locked up in his room for days, none of the other boys had signs after that. Surely, Sirius had planned to jump into the water with everyone else, but then he saw their bodies, completely free from scars.

Which didn´t make any sense at all. All the pure-bloods, half-bloods and muggleborns in the water had scar-free bodies. So, it didn´t have anything to do with being raised by muggles or wizards. He had thought that maybe they didn´t get scars… just slapped and starved.

Though there were no signs of this either.

The moment Sirius saw the others, he felt insecure, he had never felt insecure about his scars before. Every kid was beaten by their parents, but not those? Is it more like a Slytherin thing? That just doesn't make sense either cause then it's not 'every kid'.

Sirius had put all his faith in Lupin, which was dumb. The boy apparently had never got into any trouble at home, and he wasn´t sure what is punishment would be, but he was completely sure that he most definitely wouldn´t be starved.

Which just confused Sirius even more.

"Why did you leave?" James asked insecure. He really didn´t want Sirius to feel bad.

"Sorry" Sirius said truthful. "I didn´t mean to just leave, I just… needed to be alone a bit." He made a half smile to James who returned it.

"Do you still need to be alone?" he offered.

Yes, I really need to think things through. Sirius didn´t say it, he did need time to think about it, but it wouldn´t help his mood if he stayed alone in the dorm. "Njah its okay" he replied smiling, and cheerfully asked "wanna play exploding snap?"

"Yeah" James grinned and went to his own trunk to get the cards, then joined Sirius on his bed.

That was the first night Sirius had a nightmare.

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

At the same time the house-elves was cooking dinner, at the same time his brother was during his homework, at the same time everyone lived their lives like they usually did. Sirius Black starved. You could blame himself for it, he could just stop making pranks.

He could just stop being himself.

One day ago, almost twenty-four hours ago, Sirius had sneaked some dungbombs under the plates before dinner. Then just before they finished eating, he managed to trigger the dungbombs so they all exploded. Much to his amusement, less to his parent's amusement.

They started yelling and talking about ungrateful children. How he should be more thankful because they provided him food, how he had wasted the food they had so generously given him, (they completely overreacted because the broken plates were fixed with _reparo_ and they weren´t going to eat the little amount of food left). Though because of the wasted food his punishment was being starved.

It was the first time they used that punishment, and Sirius didn´t think he would live through it.

He had been locked up in his room, in the dark, he was used to this, they always locked him up in the dark as punishment. This time was different though, he was being starved.

Sirius was sitting alone in his room, on his tenth birthday. No one had talked with him that day, no one had been checking on him. He could be dead for all they knew. He almost felt like dying, the pain inside his stomach was too much for him to handle. He wanted nothing more than to eat, anything really, or at least just water, Sirius had never thought his throat would ever be that dry.

At some point he had started yelling and begged for forgiveness, but no one had heard him, no one cared enough. It was his own fault, and he should deal with the consequences.

Around his neck was a thin magical rope placed, it was also tied around his bed, this prevented him from moving around the room. Prevented him from distracting himself from the pain in his stomach. The lack of food also prevented him from sleeping, which he dreamt of. Sleeping and skipping it all.

A little knock was heard on the door, Sirius wasn´t sure if it was there or if he was just imagining it, but the door opened a few seconds later. His brother Regulus quietly walked in, looking over his shoulders before quietly as he could closed the door, leaving the light on the other side.

It was pitch black in the room once again.

A little light appeared in the dark, like a little ball, and Sirius saw Regulus holding it in his hands. He slowly made his way to Sirius´s bed and sat beside him. Sirius used his last powers to sit up.

"Here" Regulus said as he gave the little lightning ball to his brother, "Its your birthday present." Before Sirius had time to reach for the ball Regulus let go of it, but it still hung in the air. "It can also float" he explained.

Sirius wanted to say something but couldn´t get a word over his libs. Regulus reached for his pocket and handed Sirius a slice of bread. Which he gladly took and ate in just one bite.

"Don't tell mother or father that I did this" Regulus warned whispering. Sirius nodded at this, he was so thankful for Regulus right now, he would probably have done anything.

"Thank you" Sirius said as soon as he had finished eating the bread. Regulus didn´t answer, just made a little smile. They both knew he shouldn´t be there, Sirius had done something wrong and should be punished for it. Though, with the pain and Regulus´s midnight visit, it didn´t feel fair. He didn´t know how to describe it, it was probably just him.

Regulus quietly walked out again, and Sirius fell asleep. The little ball shining above his head.

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

He was shirtless, it was all dark, he couldn´t see where he was. There was a long corridor, it could be either Hogwarts or Grimmauld place, it could also be somewhere he had never been before. Sirius ran down the corridor, to go… where ever this corridor did go.

Someone opened a door, and without thinking Sirius jumped right into the light, which he really shouldn´t have done. In the dark Sirius hadn´t been aware the he was shirtless, but behind the door with all the light, he was way too aware of it. Lots of familiar faces, and stranger faces looked at him. And laughed.

They laughed because of his scars. He tried to make them stop, but that just made them laugh even harder. Sirius wanted to go out of the door he had just entered with, but it was gone. The room had no doors or windows, the light slowly faded away along with the people inside of it. One person was left.

'You´re a freak' the black-haired boy yelled. He kept yelling, over and over again until Sirius woke up.

It was just a nightmare.

He rolled over and tried to sleep again. Sirius didn´t know if the boy had been James or Regulus, they both had black hair and the face kind of shifted.

The next morning when a black owl flied over to Sirius, his heart stopped beating for a second. He hadn´t done anything wrong, they hadn´t heard about any of the pranks, had they? When it came closer he could see that it was a normal white letter, and not a red howler. He let out a sigh of relief. The Slytherins from the other table looked curios at him.

"It's from my brother; Regulus" Sirius exclaimed happily when he had taken the letter from the owl and it flew away.

 _Dear Sirius Black._

 _Mother and father are furious for you being in Gryffindor, so please, please, please act nicely, at least until after Christmas, so we can get a fun Christmas together. I really miss you here._

 _Why didn´t you write sooner, I thought you had already forgotten me. (by the way, this is a joke, see I can make those too)_

 _I can't wait till I get to Hogwarts too; do you think I will be a Gryffindor like you? I don't hope so, I don't mother and father to be mad at me._

 _I have become really good at the summoning charm, a few days ago I managed to summon a book._

 _Hope to see you soon._

 _Your brother_

 _Regulus Black._

"Must be kind of nice to have a brother, huh?" James asked when Sirius had folded the letter and placed it carefully in his bag. He would write back later.

"Yeah, sometimes, other times he can be a bit annoying." He told honestly. "And our parents always compare us to each other."

"But you wont ever be the only kid at family reunion´s" James pointed out bitterly. If there was something he really didn´t like it was family reunions, he loved his family of course, but being the only kid with a bunch of adults… wasn´t exactly what you would call fun. It was like that until James was old enough to pull pranks. He was still alone about it though.

Sirius shrugged his shoulders and thought about the letter. Regulus didn´t want to be Gryffindor like Sirius, he had kind of thought ((okay hoped)) that Regulus would be a Gryffindor like himself, then they could stand up to their parents together.

On the other hand, the sorting hat knew Sirius had wanted to be Slytherin, but still put him in Gryffindor, there could be a chance… unless Regulus would be prepared for it and refuse to be a Gryffindor.

"If a family reunion is boring then you should just prank someone, that's what I always do" laughed Sirius.

James tried to laugh with him, but he ended but making a half smile and pulled a grimace. "I do" he admitted, "but its just not fun when you´re alone" he ended sadly.

"I know how it feels, I might be far from the only kid in my family, but I'm the only one who likes pranks" Sirius told him secretly, James looked up, not at all surprised actually, he had always known that Sirius was different from his family, he was Gryffindor after all, but there was something else too. James couldn´t really put his finger on it, he just seemed so different from the other Slytherins.

On the other hand, Sirius was different from most people. Not many can rock the look of pitch-black and white-pale skin. Even though the boy was only eleven, he still looked better than most people at Hogwarts.

"You can invite me to your next family reunion" Sirius suggested smiling, "as long as it isn´t Christmas. I want to be home for that."

James frowned, but then smiled. "That´ll be cool" he agreed, though he didn´t believe that it would actually happen, anyways it was a nice thought.

He had always been an alone-child, and he had always hated it. James had about zero cousins, so family reunions were really, _really_ boring. Lots of times he wished for a brother, sometimes even a bloody sister. Or at least just a cousin.

Sirius was lucky, he had both a brother and cousins, even though they were all Slytherins. James had no one except his parents.

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

When James and Sirius received the dungbombs that was so generous given to them by James´s father, they immediately went for the secret passageway behind Gregory the Smarmy. Naturally.

Not many know this, but there is a way where you can deactivate dungbombs, then open them and fill them with whatever you want. In this case; Swelling solution. The pranksters filled as many dungbombs they could before their first class, which was Transfiguration. James´s favorite subject.

Because they were late to transfiguration, the two boys lost ten points from Gryffindor, which they both earned back once the class began.

It wasn´t until their last class, potions, that Sirius noticed that Lupin wasn't there. they boy was naturally invisible, if it hadn´t been for the thing him and James had against it, Sirius probably wouldn´t even know his name.

One thing he did notice was that Pettigrew was alone. He wasn´t invisible like Lupin, though it looked like he wanted to. He had just blown up his cauldron and Slughorn was cleaning up after him.

"Where do you think Lupin is?" Sirius asked James when Slughorn was taking points from Gryffindor because of Pettigrew´s awful potion.

James looked up from his cauldron to look at Lupin and Pettigrew´s usual seats. "I don't know… maybe visiting his ill mother again." He suggested and shrugged his shoulders. It may look like he didn´t care, which he also intended to, he didn´t want Sirius to get the wrong ideas.

"I hope she will be okay" Sirius admitted a little ashamed.

"Me too" James agreed. They hadn´t exactly been what you would call nice to Lupin, but they didn´t really mean him any harm to him. As long as he stayed out of their way.

Once the class was over and they had gotten Gryffindor twenty points ((because their potions was as always brilliant)) the two boys headed for the statue behind Gregory the Smarmy. They filled up the last dungbombs with swelling solution, stuffed their bags with as many as possible.

Under the invisibility cloak the two pranksters headed for the great hall, unseen by everyone. Seeing as dinner hadn´t started yet, the hall was empty. Perfect.

"We´ll put extra many at the Slytherin table, right?" James whispered even though no one could hear them anyways.

Sirius paused. His whole family, cousins and all, was in Slytherin, so targeting them was still really hard for him, also the fact that James seemed to hate them so much. He agreed though, wouldn´t make too much of a difference, would it?

The dungbombs was placed under the tables just like the first time. The dungbombs were all over the Slytherin table, a few on the Ravenclaw table, fewer on the Hufflepuff table, last, they didn´t have many for the Gryffindor table, so they decided to put the last ones in one spot, and then avoid that spot.

They left the great hall an hour later, under the invisibility cloak, unseen by everyone. When they were in an empty corridor James took the cloak off them.

"I can't wait for tonight" James grinned exited. "I hope we won't get caught, I don't want to clean some nasty toilet with Filch again" he made a face that showed how disgusting it was. Sirius grinned at him.

"As long as Lupin doesn't find out we should be good" he said jokingly.

"As long as Lupin doesn't find out what?" a snarling voice said behind them. They both turned around to face none other than Snivellus in all his slimy Slytherin glory. Alone.

"Why do you care?" Sirius asked him in the need of something else to say.

"None of your business!" Snivellus spat back, crossing his arms.

Sirius raised his eyebrow and send James a look. They both grinned.

"So, you want to know what Lupin can't know, but won't tell us why you want to know?" James asked, his face clearly showing how much he thought it was stupid. "How dumb can you Slytherins be really?" he laughed.

"I don't know, why don't you ask your little friend." He fired back, satisfied with what he had said.

James instantly took a protective step ahead of Sirius and raised his wand. "Say that one more time Snivellus!" he warned.

Snivellus made a half smile, raised his wand that was already in his hand and lazily pointed it at James. His eyes shined with satisfaction and victory. "I don't know, why don't you ask your little friend." He repeated cheeky.

The black-haired Gryffindor prepared to shoot a spell at the boy in front of him who did nothing to defend himself, just look daring into James´s eyes.

"Petri…"

"Mr. Potter!" a stern voice said from behind him, James turned around to face Professor McGonagall, he swallowed. "My office now." He followed her without looking back.

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

Sirius waited for James outside professor McGonagall´s office. James had tried to defend him from Snivellus, but the slime ball had seen the professor coming that way, and only tried to get James in trouble.

Snivellus had called Sirius a Slytherin. Not directly, but James had raged. It was weird to think about. Its such a small thing to say, it shouldn´t even be offensive. And… Sirius isn´t a Slytherin, he has James and the red Gryffindor common-room to remind him of that.

It was weird.

Sirius couldn´t really put his finger on it, but he felt something clench in his stomach and it hurt. No one had ever, ever, defended Sirius before besides James. A bloody Gryffindor. Which he himself was too. Sirius sometimes forgot that. His whole life he had 'been' a Slytherin. He had only been a Gryffindor for like a month or something.

James walked out of the office, head low.

"Was she harsh?" Sirius asked concerned. He didn´t want James to be sad just before their prank. Or generally.

He looked up as if he had just seen Sirius now, maybe he just had. "It wasn´t too bad" he stated. "She taught me about some 'you shouldn´t attack your class mates' stuff like that, she took _twenty_ points and I got detention tonight. Talk about overreacting" he mumbled the last part.

"Yeah" Sirius agreed, but couldn´t stop the little smile on his face from appearing. "It's dinner time"

James looked at him with a wicked smile.

It was dinner time.

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

It was everywhere… there was swelling solution everywhere. James and Sirius were laughing their heads off. Everyone around them was covered and screaming and laughing, while the teachers called for order, which they didn´t get.

The students that hadn´t been hit was laughing at the other students. The Slytherin table was having a flip, the whole great hall was one big mess. The two pranksters had waited until the hall was almost filled completely up with students. This was with no doubt their best prank yet.

And what a prank it was.

Frank Longbottom had got something on his nose and it had almost got twice its size. Some Hufflepuff had a head and a hand that was giant. Almost each and every student looked ridiculous. James could have sworn he saw Dumbledore chuckle a little bit before he called for order.

The hall immediately went silent.

He wanted all the students to go in line behind a teacher to reverse the spell. He also asked who had caused the mess, seeing as no one turned them selves in, Dumbledore did a swish with his wand and all the potion disappeared.

Why he didn´t always do this instead of having Filch cleaning up would forever be a mystery.

By the time all the students were back to normal, and all the students was in their dorms or common-rooms. Sirius had completely forgotten about the nightmare he had had the night before.

Dear Regulus.

I never said you couldn´t joke and I'm sorry about not writing earlier. I will "try" and behave myself, but you and I both know that probably not gonna happen.

Nice about the book, I'm really proud of you.

I don't think you should worry too much about what house you are gonna be in, no matter what Hogwarts is a wonderful place.

Hope you write again soon.

Your brother

Sirius Black

 **Please review so I know what you think of it! :D**


	14. Pumpkin explosion

**Yay I posted again.**

 **If you are tired of waiting, know that I also write other stories ((it can be boring working on the same one all the time)) they are called "Anniversary - Teddy Lupin oneshot", "Slytherclaw - me for you, you for me" and "HIM - wolfstar"**

 **I love how many views there is, but I miss the reviews, please try to do that**

 **The chapters are going from being 4k words long to 3k words long, that way I can post more often, there might be some exclusions.**

 **DISCLAIMER I'm not JK Rowling or the creator of the wizarding world of Harry Potter**

 **Last time: Sirius and James finished their third prank, it was of course brilliant. Sirius has his first nightmare and he finally wrote back to Regulus.**

… **. …. …. …. …. …. ….**

 **Pumpkin explosion**

Halloween.

A muggle-celebration, mostly, wizards do it too, not the same way muggles do. Wizards don't dress up as monsters and go around begging for candy. Only muggle-borns and half-blood witches or wizards have maybe tried it.

James and Sirius haven't because they are pure-bloods, they don't even know of this tradition.

Peter knows about it, he did when he was younger, but the older he got, the more embarrassing it was to have his mother with him and seeing as he didn´t have any friends, he didn´t do it anymore.

Remus knew about this tradition. He had seen muggles walk around outside his window every Halloween, having fun, getting candy. He wanted to do it, more than anything else, but he wasn´t allowed.

He was used to it though, not having all the normal things everyone else had so he lived with it. And used every Halloween to look out of the window. That window didn´t bring anything but trouble.

Remus was eating dinner with his parents, Halloween night, he was six years old. His life was mainly staying inside, school and moons. When its school, it's not a real school, Remus was being home-schooled, he couldn´t be in a real class because it was too loud for his sensitive ears.

The moon had been just two days ago, Remus couldn´t eat properly, he just wanted to lay down and sleep, but if he should have any chance of going out tonight, he had to appear stronger than he was.

He forced the food down, his mom sent him a sad smile, she knew he wanted to go out. He had wanted to ever since she told about her Halloween stories as a child. 'When you are five' she said. 'when you are five, you will be old enough'.

When he was five he was old enough.

But too vulnerable.

They didn´t want to keep Remus from doing normal things, they wanted him to be as normal as possible. But going out late at night just wasn´t one of those things he was allowed to. So, he stayed inside.

"Can I go out tonight?" he asked quietly and hopefully. Remus already knew the answer.

"Not tonight Rem" His dad answered just as quietly, they never really spoke very loudly. His ears were too sensitive. Everything was always about him, they never talked about anything else. Not about the job, not about dinner. Always Remus and his condition.

Remus kept picking to his food, not eating it, he had lost his appetite, completely. Was being normal and doing normal everyday things too much to ask for? Apparently. Even though his parents tried, there were just too many things he couldn´t do.

He wanted to be able to go outside without fearing everything.

He wanted to go to a _real_ school with _real_ people, which he could make _real_ friends with.

He wanted to be able to look at the moon without vomiting, without crying, without wanting to remove it once and for all.

He just wanted to be normal.

And that was the only thing he could never be.

"We are moving"

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

"Happy Halloween Remus," a tired Peter said to Remus who woke him up. It was Sunday, they had been sleeping long, the moon was in only two days, so Remus was really tired.

"Happy Halloween Peter," he said back. Remus had thought that his first Halloween at Hogwarts would be amazing, but with the moon only two days away, he had other things to think about. "We have to hurry, breakfast is ending soon."

At this Peter quickly raised from his bed and headed for the bathroom. "Why didn´t you wake me up earlier?" he yelled from behind the closed doors.

"I was tired" Remus yelled back. Two days from now and he was already tired. "Maybe next time you can wake _me_ up," he said when Peter entered the dorm again.

"I did that once, and we know how that turned out" he laughed.

It would be really practical if they could eat outside of the eating times so that they didn´t have to wake up for it.

The two boys followed each other to breakfast, as they did ((almost)) every morning, Remus had been awake for like an hour because he was hungry, but he was too tired to do anything about it. At last, he couldn´t take it anymore.

Remus was jealous of Peter, he didn´t have to worry about anything but homework. Frankly, he was jealous of many people but did not let this show. It wasn´t their fault that he is abnormal. Its just one of the many things he has to live with. That he is forced to live with.

They entered the great hall, even though it was almost midday, it was pretty dark. The enchanted ceiling was filled with dark storm clouds, it wasn´t raining yet, but by the look at the clouds, it could begin any minute.

Most of the food was eaten, but there was still enough for the two of them, they had to hurry though, there were no other students in the hall, and soon the food would disappear.

"What are your plans for today?" Peter asked as he hurriedly scooped some food on his plate, not really seeing what it was, but just knew that he had to do it quickly.

"Sleeping, and then homework"

"But you did that yesterday too" he complained.

Remus looked down and bit his lip, the ceiling showed a soundless thunder that lightens the hall, the rain began pouring down, but stopped long before it could hit anyone.

"S-sorry, I-I have to v-visit my m-mom in a few d-days, and I-I-I don't wanna get b-behind" Remus stammers out, of course, Peter didn´t want to use all his time in the library, he would want to have fun. Peter smelled regretful, but he had meant it, the way he said it so quickly and the smell he had. Peter was telling the truth.

"Sorry" Peter tried, "I didn´t mean to say it like that- "

"But you meant it" Remus cut him off, emotionless.

Peter didn´t answer at first, because; yes, he meant it, the 'hidden' meaning behind the words, but no, he hadn´t intended to say them out loud. There was another soundless thunder.

"Of course, you don't want to get behind," he said after a short break, Remus didn´t look up, "but maybe… you will need a break at some point… so, maybe we can do something fun then?" Peter got the weird feeling that he was trying to calm down a wild animal or talking to a little child.

He was about to take it back when Remus nodded. Remus then looked up and smiled, "you are right. And I'm sorry too, that I always study, and never do anything fun"

"Hey, it's not like we never do anything fun" Peter smiled, "remember the fart thing? That was your idea and it was fun, the whole school liked it"

Remus blushed slightly and smiled.

As if it was a blink with an eye the food, plates, bowls and everything disappeared from the tables. Breakfast was over.

"I wasn´t done with that!" Peter complained to the table, he stared at it with narrowing eyes. Remus laughed.

"I don't think it can hear you" he laughed, suddenly feeling very tired. "Think I'm gonna go back to the dorm" Remus yawned, "what about you?"

Peter who had been staring mean at the table looked up, he could see how exhausted Remus looked. "I think I will go to the library, I don't really like the place, but I need a book. Sometimes it amazes me how good you are despite the fact that you miss classes ((Remus blushed slightly, he didn´t think of himself as that good)) you just come down when you are ready?" Peter gave Remus a little smile.

Remus nodded in agreement. They both left the great hall and headed for their dorm ((Peter needed his things)) then they said goodbye. One of them stayed to sleep, the other one headed for the library to study, Peter never really did anything but study, but that's what Remus wanted, and needed. Perhaps Peter should get other friends…

Then he remembered what happened last time he tried to get other friends. It would be great if he could make Remus make another prank, the last time… had been fun actually, Peter had never really been doing pranks before, but he had to admit that there was something about it. The excitement, the look on everybody´s faces when they discovered it and didn't know who had done it.

Their first prank had been really fun, and Peter had never seen Remus happier or exited. It removed all the unhappiness around the time he had to visit his ill mom.

It made him forget all about all his worries.

Hmm… if that is what it takes, then that is what he will be doing. He could always do his homework later, right now he would try to be a good friend. Get an idea for a prank they can do together.

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

"Hi Remus," Peter said, having a hard time to suppress his laugh. Remus still looked a little tired, but definitely much better.

Remus smiled at him. "Hi, Peter" he greeted. "What are you so excited about?"

Peter raised an eyebrow, "Do you know everything?" he asked silly.

"No" he laughed, "But I can see it on your face, your eyes are shining, and you can't sit still" _and I can smell it_ he mentally added for himself. Peter looked around as if to see if anyone was listening, he then moved his head closer to Remus.

"I´ll tell you after lunch," he told secretly and moved away again. Remus laughed.

"You are so dramatic" Remus rolled his eyes.

"That´s because it's a secret… you will get it when you know it"

"Ey, now I'm excited about what it is" he laughed. Remus filled his plate with food from the table and quickly ate it. He had never seen Peter this excited about something. Remus wasn´t nervous at all, everything about Peter shined excited and happy, so it was definitely a good thing.

It had taken some time, but Peter had found a spell he thought was pretty good, he couldn´t do it himself, but it was an okay easy one, hopefully, with a little practice Remus would be able to master it.

They dragged each other out of the great hall, Remus excited to hear about Peter had to tell, Peter exited to tell what he had to say. The two boys found an empty corridor.

Because it was Halloween, the prefects had decorated the halls, there were pumpkins around every corner, hay balls, fake bats in the roof, it was clearly a Muggle-born who stood for the decorations. Though Remus liked it, it reminded him of the Halloween´s he used to have as a kid. He wouldn´t go out and get candy of course… but they had still decorated the house, on the inside.

"You have to tell me now!" Remus begged, Peter, took a book from his bag, found the right page and shoved it into Remus´s face, Remus took the book and began reading.

.

BABBLING CURSE

Type: curse

Pronunciation: ef-FU-TI-re

Description: causes the target to babble

.

There was written a lot more about how the spell was invented, the inventor, and a lot more. Remus looked confused at Peter who looked excited at him as if he was supposed to work something out from this, he looked down again to see if he missed anything.

"Why do I have to see this?" He asked confused after a while.

"We can use it for a prank" Peter explained exited.

First now Remus understood, he made a smile equal to Peter´s and grinned.

"I didn´t think you liked pranks" he teased.

"I didn´t either, but it was really fun making the first one… and yeah, I wanted to do it again" Peter explained a little ashamed.

Remus looked down at the book again, the possibilities came to him in a rush, wonder how much fun they could get for out of this. Walking up to people ask them a question and then use this just to see them babble and not knowing why. What if they used it on a teacher in the middle of class? Now, that would be extremely fun… and risky, Remus decided to keep the idea to himself.

He frowned. "Peter this is a second-year spell, there´s no way we can make this work," Remus exclaimed sadly, he had just gotten used to the idea of making another prank, and this one seemed good.

"I know" he answered, "but I thought seeing as you are so good at Defense Against the Dark Arts, you would be able to master it not before too long," Peter said quickly and happily.

Remus blushed slightly before he answered, "I´ll try, but I have to visit my mom soon, so it will take a while…"

"That´s okay" Peter quickly added, "I know the spell is difficult, so just take your time"

Nothing is better than a good friend… except for a best friend.

Remus smiled, "I´ll try and get it as soon as I can" he promised, "can we do our homework first?"

The exact definition of friend is; a friend is a person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically one exclusive of sexual or family relations.

"Of course, I haven't finished mine yet either."

The definition of best is; of the most excellent or desirable type or quality.

The two friends walked together to the library, it's a mystery why they don't just move in there, they spend almost as much time there as in their dorm.

So, the definition of a best friend must be someone who is the most excellent or desirable person whom you have a bond of mutual affection with.

Remus didn´t think he would have time to work on the spell before the full moon. He couldn´t believe that Peter had used time to find a spell that could be used for a prank, it gave him little kicks of joy inside and he just wanted to jump around and smile. The moon ((and the thought of humiliation)) prevented him from doing that.

A best friend is someone who is always there for you, when you need them and when you don't. Who have seen your best and your worst. Who loves you deeply in a platonic way.

The day went normally from there, as normal as a day at a school like Hogwarts can be, some Slytherins had charmed the bats to be real and attack students, mostly Gryffindor, they had gotten detention for a week. That was what the rumour said at least.

Whoever made the food, had made a marvellous dinner, pumpkin pies, pumpkin juice, pumpkin cake, the list goes on. This much food was exactly what Remus needed before the moon, though he really didn´t need the loud-talking students.

Remus stuffed himself, you could say he was hungry as a wolf.

At dinner, the day wasn´t as normal anymore.

Everything went just fine, everyone was having fun, eating, talking, the ordinary stuff, when there was a big explosion from one of the pumpkins, the one nearest the Slytherin table, orange slime and a dreadful smell came out of it, it was like a mixture of pumpkins and old socks.

Remus really shouldn´t be able to smell it from all over here, he tried his hardest not to cover his nose, also, he had to cover his ears, because there were another explosion and people started screaming. The smell became worse. The whole Gryffindor table was covered in slime. Along with the other tables now.

The slime was right under his nose. He thought he would faint from it. It's not even overreacting, the smell really was that bad, especially for a werewolf. He decided he couldn´t take the smell anymore, then covered his nose instead, and left his ears free.

He had to get out of this.

The little werewolf looked for the doors, it seemed as if they were locked, lots of students stood there, trying to get out. Some older students tried to make them go away so that they could open them. The teachers tried to call order, except Dumbledore who just stared at it as if it was a sunset. They made eye contact, Remus had a pleading look in his eyes. Dumbledore nodded shortly and raised himself.

He pointed his wand at his throat, "Quiet" he said calmly, the spell he had used must have made his voice louder, he wasn´t yelling or anything, but everyone heard it, and everyone stood still. "I would like to inform you that whoever did this ((he gave everyone a serious look)) will be receiving punishment, for ruining the food, causing mayhem, destroying decorations and making certain students uncomfortable, things like this will not be tolerated!

I suggest that everyone goes back to their respective common-rooms." His voice was calm and friendly yet demanding. Dumbledore cast alohomora on the door and students quietly began walking out. So did James and Sirius.

"Not you two" McGonagall warned, the boys turned around, looking as innocent as they could.

"What is it, Professor McGonagall?" Sirius asked sweetly.

"Don't play innocent Black. As Dumbledore said you two will be receiving punishment"

They tried to look very offended as if it would be really wrong of her to assume they would have done anything like that.

"Give me your wands" she demanded, a little hesitant they did what she asked for. McGonagall waved her wand and some cleaning gear appeared. "You two won't be leaving the hall before it's shining!" with that said she turned around and walked out of the door, it was now they realized all the other professors had gone too.

Walls and floors and tables were filled with slime, though they began cleaning.

"It was still worth it," James said.

"Yeah" Sirius agreed. "Did you see Lupin though?" he asked, "It looked like he was about to faint, and the Gryffindor pumpkin hadn´t even exploded yet"

James shrugged, "I was busy looking at the Slytherins, did you see their faces?" he laughed.

"Yeah" Sirius laughed too.

They stayed up all night, the hall wasn´t perfect, but it was clean enough, Sirius and James ate breakfast before heading to transfiguration, being just as tired as Remus.

 _Dear Sirius_

 _Why couldn´t you behave yourself, someone from Hogwarts sent mother and father a letter about what you did._

 _You really have to behave now if you want us to celebrate Christmas together._

 _I can´t tell how bad it is, they won't show me, I wasn´t even supposed to know about the letter, mother caught me sneak peeking, I got an awful one for that._

 _Please behave, I don't want you to be in your room when you finally come home again!_

 _Your brother_

 _Regulus Black_

 **Remember to review thank you very much!**


	15. Pride

**I actually planned to write about the Quidditch match, but then another idea came to me and I had 3k words already, so next chapter then.**

 **I wanted to post this yesterday, on Sirius actual birthday, but I only realized that yesterday, so I didn´t have time to finish it, sadly.**

 **We got more than a THOUSAND views and I'm so thankful to all of you!**

 **Remember you can follow my Instagram, and that I post both on here and wattpad if you would rather read it there**

 **DISCLAIMER well, I don't own the characters, only the plot, the rest is for JK**

 **Last time: it was Halloween, and while Remus prepares for the full moon, Peter finds a spell that they can use for pranking, speaking of pranks, James and Sirius made a Halloween prank.**

… **. …. …. …. …. …. ….**

 **Pride**

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" James yelled as he jumped on Sirius, who was still laying in bed. He let out a loud groan as James landed. James didn´t seem to notice Sirius´s displeasure. "I have always wanted to do this" he exclaimed smiling to Sirius.

"And I have always wanted to kill someone, maybe this is the day where our dreams come true" Sirius teased annoyed, he smirked to James to make sure he knew he was joking. The other boy started laughing.

"Stop being so moody, I have a present for you"

James had expected Sirius to smile, laugh or give him a look, but he looked confused instead.

"Present?" Sirius had a frown on his face, "Why?"

"Cause it´s your birthday!" James exclaimed and rolled his eyes, thinking that Sirius was joking or something. Which he really wasn´t, but how should James know that. Everyone gets presents on their birthday.

"So?"

"You get presents on your birthday you moron" he teased, still thinking it was a joke when Sirius did not crack a smile and continued to look confused, James asked in a very tiny voice; "You don't get presents on your birthday?"

Sirius simply shrugged his shoulders. "We only get presents when we deserve it, so instead of one time of the year, we get it when we have earned it"

"But isn´t it kind of sad to not get presents on your birthday?" James -who couldn´t imagine not getting presents on his birthday- asked.

"I have never tried it" Sirius replied, or well, there was that one time. A moment, just a moment, Sirius wondered what it would be like. Was he the only person ((besides Regulus)) who didn´t get presents on his birthday?

James suddenly began smiling again; "You try it now!"

Sirius also pulled a smile, what could James have gotten him? They couldn´t come to Hogsmeade yet, so he hadn´t bought it there, when would he have had time to order one? How in the world had he got it without Sirius noticing?

"Where is it?" he exclaimed excitedly, and looked around, maybe it was somewhere in the bed, Sirius hadn´t actually looked, though he couldn´t see any.

"Only if you ask nicely" James teased and put his hands on his side. Trying to look a little bigger.

Sirius raised his eyebrows and then rolled his eyes, continuing in the same voice as James, he said; "Jamie Mamie it´s my birthday, you got to do as I please"

"Oh, but Sirius Fidilius, I have hidden it, and you got to find it before Herbology"

"Why have you hidden it?" Sirius asked seriously.

James shrugged his shoulders, "my parents used to hide some of my presents when I was younger, so that I could find them, it used to be really fun and I thought it would be fun to do together," he said it in a bored voice, like it didn´t really matter to him if Sirius wanted to or not.

Sirius reacted the best way possible. "Like a treasure hunt?" he almost jumped out of the bed, "Come on we got to get going!" he stormed to the bathroom to take a quick bath and dress up. Since the day James had been swimming in the lake with the other boys, Sirius had been careful about showing his body. He didn´t quite understand why none of them had any scars when he had.

One of the things that confused and bewildered Sirius the most was why Lupin wasn´t in the water. He never did something he wasn´t allowed to do, he wasn´t being starved, but he could be beaten or slapped, right? If he didn´t jump in the water to hide scars like that, Sirius assumed.

When Sirius left the bathroom again, fully dressed, James waited for him with a piece of parchment in his hands.

"What's that?" he asked and snapped it out of James´s hands with a smile on his face.

"It´s your first clue"

"First?" Sirius asked, he wanted to do this for sure, but maybe breakfast first would be great. "There are gonna be more?" he tried to make it sound light. James nodded, Sirius looked at the parchment.

Where we are every day

Not for game not for play

Where house unity is best

But also sometimes contains test

This really wasn´t the greatest riddle and it was obvious that James had made it himself, but still. James had taken time to do something for Sirius, he could just have given the present, but he didn´t. If James did something extra just to make Sirius happy, then he would surely play along.

"Uhh… the great hall?"

James nodded while smiling and then explained; "I thought we should start up here, but we need breakfast first, so-"

"That´s great" Sirius cut him off. "Off to the great hall we go" he grabbed James´s wrist and dragged him down to the common room, he then let go and they walked together to the great hall.

Like anything, the two boys did together the walk wasn´t silent. Sirius tried to get James to tell what the present was, which he, of course, didn´t want to reveal. A surprise is a surprise, and you can't reveal such.

Desperately trying to change the subject so that Sirius wouldn´t get it out of him, James mentioned the first thing he could think of; Quidditch.

"I can't wait for the match on Saturday, 'Gryffindor VS Slytherin." He exclaimed enthusiastically.

It worked because Sirius immediately forgot about getting information out of James, this was Quidditch after all. "Yes I can't wait, I have only ever seen one match, the world cup years back-"

"You were there?" James exclaimed wide-eyed, "Didn´t that game like last six days?" James had, of course, wanted to attend, but the tickets were too expensive and such. They would rather spend the money on something 'they could all enjoy together'. Which was what his mom thought, but his dad really wanted to see it too, but couldn´t because of work. Then it left James to go with his mom, she didn´t want to so he didn´t go.

Though instead, they visited New York which was really cool but would have been so much better if he had had a brother or a sister to hang out with.

"Yeah it did," Sirius said remembering back, he had been on his best behaviour in two months before the game. No pranking, no teasing no nothing. He had never seen a Quidditch match before, neither played it. Grimmauld place didn´t have a garden or such they could play in.

It had been big, like really big, they woke up an early morning to use a portkey to Australia where the final was being held, six days, six days and it had been amazing, Sirius didn´t dare to look away just one second, he peed as little as possible, what if he missed the seekers getting the snitch?

Oh, the snitch. A magical golden little ball, he couldn´t even see the little thing when the two seekers were razing towards it, full speed, both of them in the brand-new brooms; Nimbus 1975, Nimbus '75 for short. It was the fastest broom on the market and they had just come out. Both teams were tired, the audience was almost falling asleep, the seekers had seen the snitch lots of times, but never quite managed to catch it, but Sirius, oh boy Sirius couldn´t remove his eyes from them.

He saw the Australian seeker come close to the almost invisible snitch, his hand just a few inches from it, so close, but then he grabbed his hand around it. Half the stadium began cheering, the other half looked confused but quickly found out what was happening and began cheering themselves. Even those from the losing part, everyone was just relieved that it was finally over.

It was the best thing Sirius had ever seen, and just being there, the stadium was giant and breathtaking and wonderful and the game.

Oh, Quidditch.

"That is so cool!" James practically yelled, "You have to tell me _everything!"_

"Everything?" Sirius grinned.

They had reached the great hall, with one look at the sky Sirius could see that the sun was shining, though there had been frost on the window in their dorm, so it was probably rather cold. As their first lesson was herbology, outside, James and Sirius had brought gloves and scarfs.

"Yes, everything! I wanted to be there myself, but my parents didn´t want to travel that far" he told sadly.

Sirius nodded with pity, he couldn´t even imagine how sad it would have been if he hadn´t got permission to go. If Regulus had been there without him and experiencing a Quidditch game like that, it isn´t every day you witness a six-day long match.

"It´s like… five years ago, I can't remember everything" Sirius rolled his eyes, but still grinning at James.

"Just the things you remember then" he pleaded and gave himself some well-deserved bacon, he had been up early -under the invisibility cloak- to make this treasure hunt for Sirius. Which he had almost forgotten about when they started talking about Quidditch.

"Oh well" Sirius started thinking back, "The place was big, like really big, thousands of wizards and thousands of witches, all over the place, they had all dressed up with colours from the team they supported. Everyone cheered, the first few hours at least, but when it dragged out, few had to leave because of work and such, but it was still the most amazing thing I have ever seen."

"Wow," James said in awe.

Before Sirius could continue his story, the morning owl´s came in, two owls landed in front of Sirius, one of them was black and proud, Sirius recognized the other one as James´s owl.

He took both letters but read the one from the black owl first.

 _Dear Sirius_

 _Why didn´t you reply to my last letter? It´s okay though, I know you are probably busy, but it would be nice if you would take more time to write, I´m getting really lonely here._

 _Happy birthday, by the way, how is birthdays at Hogwarts? I really hope the day will be good for you._

 _Your brother_

 _Regulus._

Sirius cursed himself for not remembering to write, of course, Regulus was lonely at home. He mentally noted to himself to write more often.

"What´s that?" James asked with interest.

"A happy birthday letter from… my family" he lied. It wasn´t until now that he had noticed his parents hadn´t written, they used to say happy birthday to him, why not now? Were they still mad at him for being sorted into Gryffindor? They surely shouldn't, right? It wasn´t his fault.

It wasn´t his fault.

Sirius looked for where the owls came in, there didn´t come more, maybe his parents would write later. Yeah, they would. They couldn´t possibly still be mad at him for something that wasn´t his fault.

It wasn´t his fault.

James looked worried at his friend, who looked as if he some kind of trance over him. "Sirius!" he called, Sirius snapped out of whatever he was thinking about, he then shook his head and smiled at James.

"What?"

"I don't know, you were just gone for a moment."

Instead of answering Sirius opened the letter from James.

 _Happy birthday Sirius, your present is just around the corner;_

 _I am filled with knowledge,_

 _For everyone._

 _A book for next Saturday_

 _I hope it will be fun._

"Your poems are _so_ good James," Sirius said sarcastically, but with a smile. James laughed. "A book for next Saturday? Quidditch?"

James nodded. "You finished eating?" he asked eagerly.

As they walked to the library ((it was the first place Sirius thought of when the riddle mentioned books)) Sirius thought of what the next riddle might be, and how much time they had before Herbology.

In the library the two boys turned to the sport-section, if it had something to do with Quidditch, then surely it should be there. Among a lot of other books, like a lot of other books. It looked as if there were thousands ((probably not, but still)) and Sirius had no idea how he should find the one.

Big books, small books, thin books, thick books, and if that wasn´t enough, books in all colours. How come there were so many books about _sport?_ Normally sport-fans didn´t read.

"And it´s here?" Sirius asked, beginning to study the books for Quidditch books, among them where soccer, handball and other words Sirius had never heard before, it was probably muggle games. He frowned, why would there be books about muggle-sport in a _wizard_ library in a magic school?

"Somewhere yes" James answered.

"There is so many" he stated.

"And only one of them contains the next riddle"

"How am I supposed to-" Sirius paused when a certain book caught his eye, it was a little worn, probably a really popular book. The red cover stood out to all the other books, it had big swinging letters in shining gold, the title read; 'Quidditch through the ages'.

He took it out, it was old, yes, but that made it seem more magical. Sirius opened the book on a random page and found a piece of parchment.

As he put the book back, Sirius asked James a question; "What would you have done if someone had taken the book?"

"I had an extra piece of parchment with a riddle on it," he said lightly, "Classes start soon, you have to hurry!" he hastens to add.

 _Inside you will find no grass_

 _Outside is a better match_

 _We should hurry to class_

 _Herbology is what we should catch_

"This isn´t even a riddle" Sirius teased.

"I ran out of time!" James defended flustered.

Sirius laughed, at least the poem was good, it rhymed and everything. His present was at Herbology? James is a good friend, he does something out of the ordinary for him on his birthday. Something clenched inside his stomach, he had done more than his parents ever had.

But birthdays aren´t important, right? That´s what they always said, you don't deserve a day just for you when you did nothing for it. His mother even thought that she should be celebrated, it was her who had given birth after all.

"So, it's at Herbology?" he asked.

"Uhm, kinda, I wanted to hide it there, but it was kinda raining, so I decided to ask Hagrid if I could hide it at his house, he didn´t mind, and then I just didn´t want to go back and change the riddle.

But that´s fine right?"

"Of course," Sirius nodded.

"If we hurry, you can open it before class, and if we hurry after that, we can put it back in our dorm before History of Magic."

Sirius couldn´t find one single bad thing about James, he was clever, skilled and a really good friend. He cared for Sirius even though they had only known each other for a couple of months.

"What are we waiting for then?"

Cold air hit the two boys when they walked outside, there were no other students to be seen, no one wanted to be outside longer than necessary, but these two had to go to Hagrid´s hut where Sirius´s present was waiting for him.

They hugged themselves, despite the sun being out, it was freezing. James put his scarf a little longer up so that it covered his nose completely. He didn´t want to get a cold this close to the Quidditch match.

He wanted to join, of course, but first years weren´t allowed, some safety rule or something, whatever that is for.

"I can't wait for the match next Saturday" Sirius stated after a moment of silence.

"Me neither" James agreed, he had seen some games before, not like world cup or anything, but small games that were being held around town, he had been playing a little with his dad in their garden, much to his mother´s dismay seeing as not all flowers made it out alive. "Do you think we can get the house-elves to bake a cake after dinner tonight?"

Sirius face lit up, as mentioned, he had never had cake before, and he ruined his only opportunity by levitating the cake into his cousin Bellatrix´s hair. Which was worth it by the way.

"You think?" he beamed.

"I don't know, I asked you" James teased, which made Sirius roll his eyes. Moron. "I think, they have made cookies before, so why not, which kind do you want?"

Seeing as birthday presents were normal for James, and not Sirius, the same thing probably applied to birthday cake. He didn´t want to cause another scene, or worse, pity. "Any kind"

James mind was immediately filled with the most amazing idea _ever_ , it was something every child dreamed of but was never allowed to do. He grinned wickedly. This was without a doubt Sirius´s favourite of James´s states, that meant he had gotten a weird idea.

"What?" he begged.

"What if instead of _any kind_ , we get _every kind_ instead."

Sirius just laughed, "You´re insane" he stated.

"Insane or a genius?" James asked, already dreaming of all the cake, how come they not think of this before? It was so obvious.

He rolled his eyes, "insane" Sirius answered simply.

"You don't get it!" James exclaimed eagerly, "imagine… thousands of cakes, just for you and me" he smiled to Sirius who just rolled his eyes again. "Okay, what about… a hundred cakes, but like only two slices or some really small ones. Instead of one big one. What would you say about that?"

"I would say that you are insanely genius" he laughed.

Neither of them noticed that they were already in front of Hagrid´s door, James knocked three times, there was some clanking sound, a dog that barked followed by Hagrid´s voice.

"bad boi"

What they assumed was the dog whined, "aw, don' cri Fang!" Hagrid quickly said. "who´s a goo boi?" he asked eagerly." The dog ((Fang)) began barking happily followed by Hagrid laughing.

James knocked on the door again.

"Oi that's right," Hagrid said behind the door, with heavy steps he made his way for the door, opened it and looked down, "Ay Potter, Black" he greeted, he saw how they were freezing and offered them to come inside, which they gladly accepted.

The hut was a small wooden house, Sirius had expected it to be bigger on the inside, Hagrid was a big man after all. He was mildly disappointed, the bed was in the corner, there were a fireplace and a big table. Hagrid gestured for them to sit down and offered them some cake.

James cut him off by interjecting; "the present, Hagrid?"

"Oi, that´s right"

When he left, James whispered to Sirius "do not eat that! He is a nice man and all, but baking isn´t his strong side"

"Kind of like your potions" Sirius teased and James showed his best-offended-face, but laughed nevertheless"

Hagrid brought in a little package ((which turned out to be a rather big one, but it looked small I his hands)) and placed it in front of Sirius.

The wrapping paper was red, with a little pattern on it, that could only be seen if you looked closely, on top there was this big golden bow. Gryffindor colours, of course. Sirius took a glance at James who looked a mixture of excited and nervous.

A little hesitant Sirius opened the present carefully, it revealed a little brown box, there was some fabric in it, Sirius carefully picked it up, it felt soft on his fingers, he placed it on the table, it was a big banner, of course in red and gold.

It was beautiful.

"It´s a banner, you can put it up in the dorm or in your room at home," James said, eyeing Sirius, he wanted to see a reaction, but Sirius didn´t know how to react. He had gotten a present, not because he needed it, not because he deserved it. Simply because James liked him.

He had known that all morning, yes, but it was different to actually see it. Sirius had expected dungbombs, some pranking stuff or just some candy. There was so much more thought to this than just that.

Sirius jumped on James, pulling him into a hug. "Thank you" he whispered, fighting back tears.

 **/review thank you very much :D/**


	16. Gryffindor vs Slytherin

**Well… has it been... 11 days? I think so, that might be record!**

 **This chapter turned out sadder than I had planned, but whatever, it's cute too.**

 **Thank you so much for the many views and reviews, it still makes me extremely happy!**

 **DISCLAIMER JK owes characters and stuff, I owe plot and oc´s.**

 **Last time: it´s Sirius´ birthday and James had planned a treasure hunt for him. Sirius gets more and more questions about how the world works. They talk about and look forward to the Quidditch match.**

… **. …. …. …. …. …. ….**

 **Gryffindor vs Slytherin**

He had really thought that it had been a good idea.

Who could possibly have predicted that eating a hundred slices of cake were a bad idea? James didn´t feel like he could ever look at a cake again without vomiting, it didn´t even taste good anymore, it was all just too sweet.

It had seemed so clever, they had even made the house-elves bring the cakes to their dorm. Though it had backfired.

Sirius groaned from his own bed, the first ten slices that been amazing, though he felt as if he had tasted cake for the first and last time today.

Lupin had shown up to Defense Against the Dark Arts this morning, but neither at breakfast or in the dorm. He and Pettigrew had acted like nothing, as Lupin had been in the dorm and at breakfast. It felt… weird, they didn´t greet or hug or anything, just continued as usual.

What had happened at his birthday still bothered Sirius. He had put the banner up but planned on bringing it home when it was summer. His only present.

His parents hadn´t bothered to give him one, not that he expected one, but they didn´t even bother to wish him a happy birthday as they usually would, he couldn´t leave the clenching feeling in his stomach. They couldn´t still be mad, could they?

Regulus had said so, but… why? He broke tradition, yes, but it wasn´t his fault, and they had already punished him by sending the howler. How madder could they be?

Sirius decided to write to Regulus and ask, he needed to know exactly what he should be expecting, Christmas is after all, just around the corner.

"What are you gonna do for Christmas?" Sirius asked while he still held on his stomach, it kind of felt like he could control the pain that way. This was almost worse than starving. No… starving is worse.

"Going to celebrate it with my family I guess. You?"

"Same here, I can't wait to see Regulus again. I have missed him so much."

There was a moment of silence again. They both thought of Christmas, neither of them had seen their family in a very long time, it would be nice to see them all again. Though Sirius didn´t feel very good about it, his parents were mad at him, and he hadn´t exactly given them a reason to think otherwise.

With a moment of determination, he raised himself, way too quickly and his stomach threatens with vomiting. A little slower he found some parchment and began writing.

 _Dear Regulus_

 _I´m so sorry that I haven't written to you, there is happening so many things up here._

 _Birthdays up here is nothing special really, but I have discovered that it´s normal to get presents on your birthday. My friend planned a treasure hunt with riddles, my present was the treasure, it´s a big Gryffindor banner, I have planned on bringing it home this summer._

 _I´ll try and behave, but pranking is just so much fun, and you know me._

 _Anyways, exactly how mad are mother and father? I really need to know what I am up against here, I have to admit that I get a bit nervous. Are they still mad that I´m a Gryffindor?_

 _And do you know why they didn´t write happy birthday to me?_

 _Your brother_

 _Sirius_

"What´s that?" James asked when Sirius folded the letter.

"A letter to my brother" he replied. James lied down again, "I´m gonna go now, see you in Astronomy?"

James sat up. "Do you want me to go with you?"

"Nah it´s okay," Sirius said and grabbed his things, "old people like you need rest"

"You are older than me!" James yelled as Sirius laughingly left the room. He quickly walked through the common room and out in the corridor. Unlike the common room, it was dead silent out here.

Sirius first now realized that he hadn´t walked around without James before. The castle suddenly felt big, it was dark outside, and Sirius felt a shiver run down his spine. He quickly began walking.

It was almost curfew so there weren't many students around, though the first years had Astronomy tonight, which meant they could walk around. Without getting into trouble. He avoided hidden passageway´s seeing as they usually were dark.

It was so stupid, but he couldn´t help but feel just a little afraid. Brave little Gryffindor ain´t he?

He cast the lighting charm to get things just a little bit lighter. It wasn´t dark, but it was too dark. Nothing like Grimmauld where it wasn´t dark like that. That place wasn´t filled with darkness, everything is just dark. Does that make sense?

Sirius hurried through the corridors, he tried to calm himself, but it was coming at him at once. He almost began running, that was when he saw Lupin and Pettigrew staring at him.

"Why don´t you just take a picture" Sirius snapped. He hadn´t intended to, but his stupid fear was overwhelming and he couldn´t take that they just stood there. The worst thing that could happen was if they found out he was afraid of the dark. With all the things he had done to them, they would surely use it against him.

Pettigrew looked down and began walking, they probably headed to Astronomy, but Lupin kept staring curiously. It didn´t seem as if he had heard him. When Pettigrew noticed Lupin wasn´t following, he grabbed his arm and -not dragged him away- but pulled a bit and silently asked him to begin walking again.

Lupin slowly turned his gaze away from Sirius and moved it to Pettigrew. It looked kinda creepy.

"Yeah," he said, then he turned to Sirius again "sorry" and then they walked away.

A shiver ran down his spine, he was alone again. And did really not enjoy so. Sirius quickly began walking again, and after what seemed like forever, he was finally in the owlery. A ginger owl caught his attention, Sirius walked over to it and attached the letter. "Don´t let mother and father find you, the letter is only for Regulus" he instructed.

There was a glint in the owl's eyes, and he knew it had understood. Then it flew away.

He stared out of the window, the moon had been full just a couple of days ago. Sirius relaxed by the sight of it, there was something calming about it. No matter where he was in the world, the moon was there too. Like a big protecting ball, giving light to the night.

Some of the owls behind him began to hoot, he was almost late for Astronomy. Sirius grabbed his bag and quickly began walking, making sure to light with his wand of course.

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

Sirius had planned to wake James up the same way he had done it at Sirius´ birthday, but as he sneaked over there, he saw that James had gotten the same idea. They stared at each other awkwardly for a moment.

"Uhh, morning" James greeted.

"Morning" Sirius responded, he then cracked a smile, "There´s Quidditch today"

"I know!" James exclaimed and almost jumped of excitement.

Finally, the first Quidditch match of the year would take place, and the most exciting one. Everyone in the school knew about the rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin. This game practically determined who would run the school the rest of the year.

Kind of at least.

You could always kind of guess how the match would end, but not at the first one. They picked new team members almost every year, and it was always exciting to find out how well the members played together. Just because someone is good at Quidditch doesn´t mean they are good at playing like a team.

Lupin and Pettigrew were still sleeping, if they didn´t wake up soon, they might miss the game.

"I´m gonna take a shower" Sirius stated.

"Don't be too long" James warned, "I don't wanna miss the game"

Sirius quickly went for the bathroom, he turned the shower on but didn´t step in. He put his head in, so that his hair became wet, and quickly dried it.

In the mirror, he saw himself, shirtless, with half-wet hair, and bruises all over his body. Just small ones, almost not noticeable, but they were there. He quickly took on a shirt, partly to avoid looking at it. They had never been a problem before, but after he had seen the other boys…

He shook his head, it was stupid, and then left the bathroom again.

"That was quick" James stated surprised, he had put on his clothes too.

"Well, I don't wanna miss the game either you moron" Sirius joked. James rolled his eyes and they walked to breakfast together. Not completely being able to hide their excitement.

Usually, the hall wasn´t filled with people this time of the day on a Saturday, but the whole school seemed to be excited about the match. The teams sat for themselves and had almost finished eating, they needed to be there early, just to relax a bit before the big game.

Sirius and James sat down by themselves and began eating quickly, they needed to be there early too, it would be a nightmare if they didn´t get the best spot. After all, this was their first Quidditch match at Hogwarts.

"It must be pretty nerve-wracking" Sirius stated after he had eyed their team, they all looked nervous, some of them weren´t able to eat anything. James looked in the same direction.

"Yeah…" he agreed, "Do you think I´ll be able to handle it?"

"Hmm, I think so, no matter what I think you will get used to it," Sirius told, "But I think that as soon you´re in the air you will relax and kick some arse"

James laughed, it was weird how he felt nervous, hopefully, next year he would be able to play.

"Still not up for joining the team next year?" he checked, Sirius shook his head, "I really hoped you would- "

"I´m no Quidditch player," Sirius told again with a little smile, "I haven´t even played it before"

"Never?" James asked in shock.

"Grimmauld place doesn't really have any gardens we could do it in, the muggles would just find out"

More students went in for breakfast, Pettigrew and Lupin too, they sat as far away from James and Sirius as possible, which they really didn´t mind. He caught Lupin looking at him for a short moment before turning his gaze to Pettigrew again.

Sirius suddenly remembered a few days ago when he had gone to the owlery, the way Lupin had been staring at him like he could see something. Something that Pettigrew clearly couldn´t.

"There is something off about Lupin"

"Beginning on that again?" James asked he thought that thing was long gone. He looked at Lupin and Pettigrew, but couldn´t see anything off about them. They looked like two normal boys.

"When I went to the owlery the other night, I ran into them in the corridor, and Lupin wouldn´t stop staring at me before Pettigrew practically dragged him away"

"Maybe he thinks you look good" he offered.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Of course, I look good, but you didn´t see the way he was staring, it was like… like he could see something, not how I looked, but… inside me?"

James raised his eyebrow. It didn´t make any sense.

"I know it sounds weird, but that's how it felt!"

"I believe you, Sirius… but… what you are saying doesn´t make sense at all"

He looked down, frustrated that James didn´t take his words seriously. It didn´t make any sense, but there is something off about Lupin, he thought they had agreed on that. Apparently, James didn´t think so.

"Sirius, please, I do believe you. Don't be mad at me"

"No, it's okay" Sirius assured him, "I know it doesn´t make any sense." He offered a smile which James returned.

They were almost done eating when the owls came in. Sirius spotted a black one that flew down to him, it was from Regulus. Finally.

Eagerly Sirius reached for the letter before the owl even had landed, it sends him a disgusted look before flying away, he didn´t care though. He stared at the letter for a moment, eager to find out answers, but also afraid that what he had thought would be true.

"Ain´t you gonna open it?" James asked curiously. He had also received a letter, probably from his parents.

Why is it that James´ parents send letters when the only thing Sirius had received from his parents was a howler? Not even a nice one.

He stared at the letter for a long time, why was it so hard? All he had to do was open it, maybe it wasn´t even something bad. Maybe his parents had just been busy, with stuff, maybe they just hadn´t had the time. Or maybe they knew it would be embarrassing if they wrote every day.

It was all lies, and Sirius knew it. With shaking hands, he opened the letter.

Dear Sirius

I hate to inform this to you, but things are bad, like really bad.

Mother and father called you a blood-traitor when they first discovered you were a Gryffindor, they are really mad, and I think you can expect your worst punishment ever. I'm sorry.

That´s just one thing. When the school owled about the prank you made, they got mad all over again.

I didn´t want to tell you, because I didn´t want you to worry, I told you to behave!

Please don't bring home the banner, they will just burn it, and this is your first birthday present ever, outside the family. I don´t know why they didn´t congratulate you, maybe they are too mad.

Behave!

I'm scared Sirius if I end up in Gryffindor like you, they will punish me.

Your worried brother

Regulus

Sirius closed the letter again, James looked worried at him.

"Sirius are you okay?"

He nodded.

James crawled under the table to sit beside Sirius and then hugged him tightly. Sirius crumbled the letter and hugged James back, hating that it was his friend, and not his family, who were there to calm him.

"If you need to talk about anything - _anything_ \- I´m right here," James told and stroked his back. Sirius hid his face on James´ shoulder and tightened his grip, so did James.

Neither of them cared about all the people staring at them. Sirius needed comfort, and James didn´t care about anything else. Sirius took in the smell of James, it was nice… and warm. He wanted to sit there forever and feel James´ hand stroke his back.

Just when he didn´t think a hug could get any nicer.

Sirius tried to clear his mind from the information he had just gotten, he didn´t want to ruin the game for James. He took slow and steady breaths, and when he felt he could, he pushed himself out of the hug.

"Thank you" he smiled, "I´m okay now"

"Great" James replied and went for a quick hug, he then pulled away, smiling at Sirius.

"Well, we have a Quidditch match to catch" Sirius exclaimed lightly.

They both happily walked out of the great hall, it was as good as filled, so there would hopefully still be a lot of space at the stands. Breakfast had taken a little longer than they had planned. There was a slight drizzle, but it could have been a lot worse.

It was still pretty cold, but at least there wasn´t any wind or storm, it could also have been raining cats and dogs. Not literally, though that might have happened at some point. It would actually be a great idea for a prank.

"I got a wicked idea" Sirius announced.

"What is it?" James asked excitedly, recognizing the glint in his friend´s eyes.

"You know the phrase 'it´s raining cats and dogs'? ((James nodded)) Well, what of it _actually_ started raining cats and dogs?"

James laughed, not thinking that something like that would be possible. Sirius rolled his eyes, "not _real_ animals you moron, fake ones. Imagine one morning, in the great hall, it would be amazing"

He imagined the great hall, literally cats and dogs falling from the sky, it would be cool, he had to admit that. Though right now Quidditch mattered more, pranks could come later.

"Yeah, we will do that some other time" James joked.

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Admit, it´s a good idea"

James held up his hand and crossed his fingers. "I admit that it´s a good idea" Sirius playfully slapped his friend on his arm.

There were only a few people on the stands already, so James and Sirius got a really good spot. It didn´t take long before almost the whole school and the professors were there. Someone had been so thoughtful to bring umbrellas, though it almost wasn´t necessary.

Everyone was excited about the game and chattered loudly about it. Some older students had made bets, though it was forbidden, James and Sirius had heard someone talk about it.

All the students became quiet when a loud voice could be heard everywhere, it could maybe even be heard in the school. "Good morning Hogwarts, Rose Sidney here, I´m sure everyone is excited about today's match." There was cheering everywhere, "me too, let´s get this thing started!"

"On the Slytherin team we have; Macmillan, Macmillan, Macmillan, Goyle, Summer, Kaliham and Malfoy" all the Slytherins cheered, and the team waved to their house. On the other side of the field, the Gryffindor team was showing themselves.

"And on the Gryffindor team we have; Foster, Thompson, Allen, my brother Roy Sidney, Foster, Hill and McKinnon." As the Slytherin team, the Gryffindors waved when cheers broke out. They all stood ready in front of each other, two players from each team walked into the middle.

"The captains are giving each other hands, Roy Sidney and Rocco Kaliham, who is only in fourth year, it´s the first time in a century someone at Hogwarts has a captain younger than fifth year" sounded Rose Sidney´s enthusiastic voice throughout the field.

The flying instructor, Madam Hooch, walked into the middle of the field, with her she had the box with the balls. The big Quaffle, the two aggressive Bludgers and last the almost impossible to spot; golden snitch. Getting the snitch will almost always ensure your victory.

Madam Hooch opened the box and all the balls flew out at once, the snitch only noticeable for a moment before it was gone.

"The balls are in the air - Sara Foster has the Quaffle - she is fast, but not fast enough - Devani Macmillan is flying towards her - Sara throws the Quaffle behind her - what a move - Sally Thompson catches it and starts flying towards the goal rings and Rocco Kaliham - he has seen her and is ready - Sally throws the ball to her left side - Sara catches it and… SCORE! 10-0 to Gryffindor" All the Gryffindors started cheering, they had gotten the first goal.

James and Sirius clapped alongside all their fellow students.

"Oh no, Lux Macmillan has gotten the Quaffle while the Gryffindor team was distracted - he flies towards the goal with full speed - will Eileen Hill be able to stop him?"

Everyone gasped, Lux Macmillan made no move to stop any time soon. Theodore Allen tried to take the Quaffle from him, but he almost got hit by a Bludger and had to make a swing. When Lux Macmillan was only a few meters away from the goal when he got hit by a Bludger by Roy Sidney. He almost fell off his broom, but he still managed to score.

"10-10 to Slytherin" Rose Sidney announced.

The game continued like that, Gryffindor and Slytherin each played very well, they almost got the same number of scores. Overall it was just amazing to be there, to cheer every time Gryffindor scored, to be sad every time Slytherin did.

It was about twenty minutes later when the score was 110-90 to Gryffindor, that they two seekers Julie McKinnon and Lucius Malfoy saw the snitch. Both James, Sirius and everyone else tried to look for it.

"There" James pointed, the snitch was right in the middle of the field, in the bottom. The two seekers came from each side, now the big question was, who is going to catch it first?

"100-110 to Slytherin" Rose Sidney announced, everyone had been so busy looking for the snitch they had forgotten the rest of the game. They looked there a quick moment before looking at the seekers again.

Julie McKinnon flew as fast as she could, but Lucius Malfoy had a better broom, the newest Nimbus. They were both _so_ close. Suddenly they both flew upwards, Lucius with his hand raised, he had the golden snitch.

"Lucius Malfoy caught the snitch, 250-110, Slytherin wins!" Rose Sidney yelled. All the Slytherins began cheering, some of them even ran down on the field to congratulate the team. The Gryffindors looked disappointed, Roy Sidney leads the Gryffindor team into the changing rooms.

Slowly students began walking away, the raining was getting stronger, James and Sirius stayed a little longer.

"I can't believe we lost our first game" Sirius pouted.

"You just get used to it," a snarling voice said next to them, James and Sirius looked to find Severus Snape, the Slytherin they had met on the train. "Slytherin always wins"

"Oh, Snivellus, I would give you a nasty look right now, but seems like you already got one" Sirius fired back, James burst out laughing.

"Says the loser!" Snivellus raised his eyebrow.

"We can still win!" James snapped.

"You better get inside, Snivellus, or else your hair might get clean" Sirius teased.

"You should really think about your comebacks, _Black_ _._ "

And he should think. Not about the comebacks, no they were brilliant, but about the information, Regulus had given him earlier. His parents were still pretty mad at him, and there wasn´t long until Christmas.

 **/review? Thanks** **/**


	17. Right before Christmas

**Well, it didn´t take that long for me to update.**

 **The views are rolling in, though those reviews… it only takes a minute, and it makes my day.**

 **It´s Christmas soon guys!**

 **I have been going through some of the old chapters, to check for grammar mistakes, I got Grammarly a while after I began writing, I hope it will be better now.**

 **DISCLAIMER yeah well JK owes everything… except for OC´s… and there´s a lot of them in this chapter.**

 **Last time: Sirius and James discover that it´s not a good idea to eat a hundred slices of cake. Sirius gets a letter from his brother that upsets him, he doesn´t look forward to going home for Christmas. They enjoy the first Quidditch match of the year.**

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

 **Right before Christmas**

 _Dear Regulus_

 _I´m coming home tomorrow, I can´t wait to see you._

 _Do you really think they will burn my banner? Just to be safe I´ll keep it here, but is it really as bad as you say?_

 _And stop worrying about what house you are gonna be in, it´s not worth it, I have heard the hat also thinks about what you want, though it didn´t even give me the chance. I don't care too much though, Gryffindor is pretty cool._

 _Will you maybe hide some food in my room just in case? I hate being starved._

 _See you very soon_

 _Your brother_

 _Sirius_

Remus stared at Peter, he looked as he usually did, did it work? He had been trying to do the babbling curse for several weeks and nothing had worked yet.

"Did it work?" he asked carefully.

"I don't know really I don't feel anything different but on the other hand I don't feel anything different when someone casts Petrificus Totalus that´s only the fall I feel then maybe- "Peter was cut off when he covered his own mouth. Remus smiled, it had worked.

"Finite Incantatem," he said, Peter removed the hands from his mouth.

"I think it worked" when he didn´t start to babble, Peter smiled. "You did it, Remus" he exclaimed.

"Yeah I did," he said. Thankful that he had finally done it, Remus smiled. It was a second-year spell, but he had mastered it after a month, it was a big success for him. Sometimes he felt as if he didn´t belong at Hogwarts, with him being different and all, but moments like this made him happy.

"Who should we try it on first?" Peter asked excitedly.

They had already spent so much time on Remus practising the spell, neither of them could wait any longer to do the actual prank. Both boys were really eager to prank someone.

"Whoever we meet?" Remus suggested. He felt the prank was more fun if you targeted more than one person and not a specific person. It would feel cruel that way, pranks weren´t there to be cruel to others, but to have fun and make others laugh.

"No matter what we better hurry, there is Christmas break tomorrow, and we haven´t even packed yet!" Peter said and got ready to leave the dorm, where Black and Potter had been weirdly absent from in some time.

Remus had completely forgotten about Christmas break, it felt as yesterday he slept on the Hogwarts express on September the first. Which reminded him of the full moon, everything was about the moon apparently, it had been a week ago, he was feeling great, but Christmas break would be great right now.

He had never really had a break unless you could call full moons a break. Remus studied more than all his classmates, that wasn´t because of the full moon, he just wanted to do a lot of work now, so that when the exams came around, he would be able to chill.

"Shouldn´t we pack first?" Remus asked he wouldn´t be able to relax knowing he might not get to pack. They were both going home for Christmas.

"We can do that tomorrow, besides, if we forget something, we only have to live without it for like three weeks." Peter said eagerly, "Come on, we have to start now if are gonna do it before dinner."

"Okay, okay" Remus laughed and followed Peter out of the dorm. Who should they try it on first?

The common room was almost empty, most students were packing to go home for Christmas. There was a list there, where you had to write if you stayed at Hogwarts. It would probably be a lot of fun, but on the other hand, Remus missed his family, he wanted to spend Christmas with them. Even if it was only going to be him and his parents.

Of course, Peter did too. Kind of.

Hogwarts had been an amazing place for him, he hadn´t even thought of his mom´s boyfriend, not even a single second. It had been so nice, to live without that guy, but going back meant he had to go back to him too.

Peter had thought of staying at Hogwarts, but he missed his mom and dad terribly, also his mom had insisted in him going home, for whatever reason.

The halls had been decorated by the prefects, there were kind of… chains of spruce everywhere, from the wall to the opposite wall, Christmas baubles hang from there in all the houses colours. It looked a bit chaotic. If Remus should decide, each spruce-chain should have their own colour, still in house colours of course.

The armours had elf-hats on, in red and white, traditional colours. Enchanted snow fell along the walls. Hogwarts seemed even more magical when it was Christmas. If that was even possible. It didn´t seem as if anything could ruin the spirit.

"There" Peter whispered and pointed at two students, "I think that is Michael Miller and Ronnie Sidney from Hufflepuff" the two were walking around the halls, talking, just like Remus and Peter.

"They will do" Remus whispered back. They both felt the excitement growing, and Peter felt daring, they hadn´t targeted anyone at a prank before. This was only just their second prank, so it makes sense.

Hufflepuffs were a good target, they would think it was fun, right? Peter didn´t feel so nervous, it was only for fun, and the prank was harmless.

"Hi" Peter greeted.

Under his breath Remus whispered the babbling curse, he aimed for Michael Miller, and then Ronnie Sidney.

"Hi you are Peter Pettigrew right and you are Remus Lupin right we haven´t really talked before but it is nice to meet you Ronnie and I were just talking about the decorations and how there should be more house unity on the school…" Michael Miller covered his mouth. Peter and Remus both supressed a laugh.

"Wow what happened Michael why did you start to babble like that it doesn´t really make any sense you don't usually talk a lot with people you haven´t met before…" Ronnie Sidney also covered his mouth.

Peter and Remus both burst out laughing, Remus quickly cast Finite Incantatem on them. "It´s gone now," he told still laughing a little bit.

They hesitantly removed their hands from their mouth.

"Okay?" Michael Miller said, he looked at Ronnie Sidney to see if it was gone from him too.

"Yeah?" Ronnie Sidney said, he then smiled, "What kind of spell is that? Neither Professor Flitwick or Professor Casher has taught us it."

"It´s a babbling curse" Peter explained, "We found it in a book in the library we wanted to prank someone because it´s fun but we wanted to find something that was fun for the victims too because a prank is only really fun when the victim is having fun too and not just the pranksters…" he covered his mouth and looked madly at Remus who laughed, Michael Miller and Ronnie Sidney also laughed when they realized what had happened.

"Finite Incantatem," Remus said giggling, "Sorry Peter, it was just too good."

Peter rolled his eyes and laughed, it was fun.

"But yeah you are right, Pettigrew, it was fun" Ronnie Sidney agreed.

"Not like Black and Potter who did the Halloween prank, that wasn´t fun for anyone." Michael Miller said gloomily. Remus remembered that episode all too well, he could still almost smell the slime and the dungbombs.

"You two share dorm with them, right? How is that?" Ronnie Sidney asked.

Remus and Peter shared a look and then shrugged. It wasn´t in the dorm the problem had been, Black and Potter would be after them no matter where they slept.

"Anyways" Ronnie Sidney smiled, "Nice prank, but we better get going, you know, packing and stuff."

"Of course," Peter smiled. The group split up.

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

The two boys were sitting in the dorm, Remus and Peter had pulled the prank on Lily Evans, Mary Macdonald, Marlene McKinnon ((who thought it was brilliant)) and Alice Price from Gryffindor. Petal Watson and Bellerose Winter from Ravenclaw. And lastly Petal Flores from Hufflepuff and Gustavo Martinez from Ravenclaw. They didn´t dare to prank any Slytherins.

Everyone had thought it was funny, at least as soon as Remus had removed the curse again. Petal Watson and Bellerose Winter had been surprised about Remus´ skills, it was a second-year spell after all.

"It´s gonna be nice with a break," Peter said, "Hogwarts is cool and all that, but there is _way_ too much homework"

"It will be nice" Remus agreed.

"Oh, no" Peter exclaimed suddenly. Remus sent him a questioning look. "Don´t tell me you are gonna use the whole break studying"

Remus laughed. "Not quite," he said, "But I will be reading a lot, with homework all the time, I haven´t got the time yet. I kind of miss it."

"So, you like books?" Peter asked secretly.

"Yeah" Remus frowned, "I thought all my time in the library had revealed me"

"No" Peter dragged out the 'o', "I know you like to study, not that you like to read books"

"I guess so" Remus laughed.

They then kept packing in silence, Remus had brought a lot of things he thought would be necessary but turned out they hadn´t been. Like shampoo, apparently, that were here already. Though you can always use shampoo. Remus looked everywhere in the dorm, and secretly also smelled to find his things, he didn´t want to forget anything.

After a half hour or so, Peter laid down on the bed. Remus were all done packing, his muggle clothes were on top of everything else in the trunk, and ready for him to put on, on the train. It wouldn´t be too good if everyone just kept their uniforms on when they left the platform.

Wizards are supposed to be a secret to the muggles, it wouldn´t be too good if everyone suddenly started wearing wizard robes everywhere

"Done" Remus announced just as Black and Potter entered the dorm.

"Done being here at Hogwarts? Wonderful" Potter said just after and sniggered. Black hid a grin.

Remus´ head turned red and the tried to come up with something to say, but Black was faster. "Nurgh, how cute, he doesn´t even know what to say"

Black and Potter laughed to each other. Without getting a moment to think, Remus whispered the babbling curse and aimed for Black. He didn´t say anything at first, the curse would only start when you first began talking.

It took a couple of minutes, but finally Black said something. "Hey James have you seen my potions book I´m pretty sure I remembered it after class…" Black covered his mouth, and stared madly at Remus, Potter looked confused between the two, Peter was disbelieving. And Remus tried to hide a grin.

Black didn´t even hesitate with taking his wand up. Remus prepared to jump away from any curse, but Black pointed at himself. He removed the hands and did the counter curse, then pointed his wand at Remus.

"Wingardium Leviosa," he said, Remus quickly duck. At that moment Peter had his wand raised too.

"Don´t cast a curse on him!" Peter exclaimed.

Then, Potter, had his wand raised too, he pointed it at Peter. "Do you dare Pettigrew?" he asked in a warning tone. Black twisted his wand and still pointed it at Remus, not seeming to notice everyone else around him.

Remus had his wand in his hand, but he didn´t dare to move. He had no idea what would trigger Black. All the guys in the dorm stood still.

"Sirius?" Potter asked after a long moment of silence. This seemed to get Black out of his trance, he looked at Potter, still with his wand pointing at Remus. Black shook his head violently at himself, then lowered his wand and continued to pack.

Potter and Peter did the same. Remus stood still. There was something off about Black, he had smelled almost the same as the day they met on the boats. Not as strong, but it was still there. Though there was an underlying smell that Remus almost didn´t catch. It was like the day he and Peter had run into Black one day on their way to astronomy.

But why was he afraid?

The scent couldn´t be mistaken, he had smelled it many times before, on his parents, but mostly on himself. Before every full moon, Remus smelled like this.

He couldn´t possibly know about Remus being a werewolf, right? If he had he would surely tell a Professor, unless the professor had talked him into not saying anything. But that wouldn´t stop someone like Black, he could tell his parents, and his parents would get Remus killed.

It couldn´t be that. Then why was he afraid?

Black saw that Remus stared at him, he hadn´t even realized that himself.

"Would you stop that!" he snapped. Peter and Potter both looked up, neither of them had noticed Remus´ staring.

"Uhh…"

"Geez are you always like this?" he snapped again, then turned to Peter, "is he always like that Pettigrew? How do you put up with it?" his voice was filled with anger.

"H-He is my friend," Peter said quietly. He looked at Remus who didn´t really know how to react. "Remus I´m done packing, wanna go to the great hall for dinner?"

Remus finally removed his eyes from Black, with a question in his mind. What was he so afraid of? Remus looked at Peter. "Y-Yeah"

They walked out of the dorm. Other students were heading for the great hall too. Everyone was cheery, it was Christmas soon and they would get a break from school, especially fifth and seventh years was relieved, with they OWL´s and NEWT´s coming up, they had been studying like crazy.

"Why did you do that?" Peter asked when there only were only a few other students in the hallway. "Why did you have to curse him?"

"They started" Remus defended mumbling.

"But Remus! They are both way better than us, we are lucky they didn´t curse us" Peter exclaimed.

Remus didn´t answer that, it was true, Black and Potter could have cursed them with ease. But that´s just it, they could easily have cursed both Remus and Peter, but they didn´t. Why didn´t they?

"Sorry" he mumbled, Remus didn´t mean to upset Peter. That´s the last thing he wanted. "And thanks for defending me"

Peter almost blushed. "Yeah, of course, I would. You are my friend" he stated shyly.

The great hall looked extraordinary beautiful and Christmas-ish. There were twelve large Christmas trees, glitter in all the house colours, everything was shining and looked magical. There was a big feast seeing as this would be their last dinner before Christmas break. Dumbledore even dressed up.

In other words: You just become happy and in Christmas spirit when you walked in.

They happily sat down and began eating, as always, the food was absolutely amazing, everything was cooked perfectly, not too much, not too little. The taste was brilliant. Remus stuffed himself as much as possible, knowing that he wouldn´t be able to do that the next three weeks.

He hadn´t talked much with his parents, neither had Peter. They had both been too busy being with each other to think about the people back home. It was like Hogwarts was a world in itself, once you were there, nothing else mattered.

The hall was filled with students, but Remus had almost gotten used to the loud noises. It seemed as if the whole school were there. The feast disappeared, and the dessert appeared. All students happily began eating that as well.

"This is delicious!" Peter stated, "They have really outdone themselves"

Then his stomach began to growl. Peter grabbed it, he couldn´t have had too much to eat already. He saw that Remus held his stomach as well. They both heard growls all over the great hall, many students held their stomachs. A weird reflex. Even some of the professors did too.

Not all the students had growling stomachs, those who had held on to it while the rest laughed at them and tried to figure out what had caused it. Maybe the cooks had made a mistake and accidentally put a wrong ingredient somewhere.

Dumbledore whispered something to Professor McGonagall who had a very stern look on her face, he then said something to Professor Slughorn who quickly raised from his seat and left the hall, Madam Pomfrey followed suit when Dumbledore had spoken to her too.

"What do you think is going on?" Peter asked Remus, he held his stomach, it began to hurt badly.

Remus looked to both his sides. "You know how Black and Potter had been _a lot_ away from the dorm lately?" he asked, not even having to whisper seeing as everyone was loud and wouldn´t hear them anyways.

"Do you think it´s them?" Peter asked and looked at them further down the table, neither of them held their stomachs.

"It´s been them all the other times," he said. Slughorn and Madam Pomfrey had returned, they carried something in boxes with their wands. "When it wasn´t us" Remus added with a thought.

"Quiet!" Dumbledore said so the whole hall could hear him, he had probably used the same spell as last time, "To those students who have a hurting stomach, please stand in two lines, one after Professor Slughorn and one after Madam Pomfrey, for a potion to stop the pain" he looked at everyone, most students were quiet, but those with a really bad stomach couldn´t help but let out a little whine.

"And I would recommend everyone to stay away from the pudding, it seems as if someone might have slipped a potion in it." There was a little glint in his eye, he then sat down again and began drinking some pumpkin juice.

Students hesitantly began either standing in line, or continue to eat, staying as far away from the pudding as possible. Remus and Peter stood in line.

"Definitely them" Peter whispered in Remus´ ear.

 _Dear Sirius_

 _I can´t wait to see you too, I convinced father to bring me to Platform 9 ¾ with him, so I´ll see you there._

 _I´m sure about the banner, though I could be wrong, though I think it´s a good idea that you keep it there, maybe once they cool down, you can bring it home._

 _I´m not going to stop worrying about what house I´m gonna be in, if the hat won´t sort me into Slytherin, I will leave the school. Sorry._

 _I will leave some bread and some water in your dresser._

 _Your brother_

 _Regulus_

 **/Oh dear god, it´s Christmas soon.** **Remember to review :D /**


	18. Quiet Christmas

**I wasn´t that long, was I?**

 _I have changed Peter´s backstory because I came up with a far more interesting one… so you might need to read chapter two again or else none of this will make sense_

 **DISCLAIMER JK owes just about everything… yeah…**

 **Last time: Peter and Remus do their second prank, to cast the babbling curse on random students, they pack and get ready to go home for Christmas. James and Sirius had planned a Christmas prank.**

… **. …. …. …. …. …. ….**

 **Quiet Christmas**

"I can´t believe it´s only been four months"

"Me neither" Remus replied

"I can´t believe this is our last breakfast here in three weeks" Peter pouted, "I can´t believe we aren't gonna see each other for three weeks."

Remus stopped in the middle of putting a sausage into his mouth. "I haven´t thought of that" he admitted. There was a long silence, and here Peter had been so happy about finally getting a break from school, to some level at least, he hadn´t really thought about it also meaning he would get a break from Remus.

"I just thought of it," he said with a sad smile.

"Oh"

They continued to eat their breakfast, three weeks suddenly seemed like a really long time. Going home felt unrealistic. Peter had to get used to not being able to do magic all the time, having to live with his mother´s boyfriend… though that part wasn´t so different from Hogwarts. With Black and Potter around, he would have to be prepared any minute. The same at 'home'.

"I-If you want, we could… uhh, meet sometime?" Remus asked after a while, he was looking down.

Peter lit up. "That would be great."

Remus smiled as well. "Great, we can just owl, my parents have one, and you have so… yeah" he gave another smile.

"Yeah" Peter agreed.

Not many students were staying over Christmas, they all missed their families have not seen them in four months. It´s actually a really long time not to see someone. A lot of students were also a little sad, they wouldn´t see their friends in three weeks. Muggleborns couldn´t just floo to their friends who might live in the other end of the country. Once again, Peter was glad he was born a wizard.

A little before ten, almost all the students at Hogwarts were heading for Hogsmeade, and the Hogwarts express. It would take them to platform 9 ¾ in London. All their families would wait for them there.

Remus and Peter found an empty compartment for themselves, they helped each other to get their suitcases up. Not long after the train began to drive.

"It looks like itself," Peter said to break the silence.

"Yeah… I don´t remember much of it actually, I slept the whole last time."

Peter had wide eyes. "Really? Why?"

Remus shrugged. "I was tired."

"Fair enough, I couldn´t sleep almost the whole night before I was going. I have been waiting my whole life to get there" Peter told. It was true, though some part of him had feared he never would. When someone constantly calls you a squib, you sometimes forget you are not.

"I didn´t even know if I would come," Remus told sadly.

"Why not?" Peter asked surprised, there is no way Remus thought he was a squib, he is one of the best students in their year, at defence against the dark arts at least, he was okay at the other things, but still very far from squib level.

"My mom she… I didn´t even know if I wanted to, s-she can die from this illness, and I want to spend time with her, but she wrote to Dumbledore and he allowed me to go visit her from time to time…"

"Oh," Peter said, he had wondered why Remus had to visit her from time to time, everyone gets sick after all, but if she could die from it... Peter suddenly realized why Remus would look so tired when he was about to visit her. It might be his last time every time. "I´m sorry about that. But I´m glad you came, otherwise I wouldn´t have been able to meet you" he admitted.

Remus smiled. "I´m glad too."

The trolley rolled by. "Anything off the trolley, dears?" she asked lightly.

"Got some chocolate?" Remus asked and raised himself, his face lit up at the thought. He looked through his pockets to find some money. Peter did as well, he could use some chocolate frogs too, maybe some Bertie Bott´s every flavour Beans.

Remus got a chocolate bar and a chocolate frog. Peter bought two chocolate frogs and those Bertie Bott´s every flavour Beans. You could always make a fun game out of eating those, like, trying to eat them even though they taste horrible.

"Hmm, I got Bertie Bott, you?" Remus asked and took a bite of the frog.

Peter opened his chocolate frog and looked at the cards. "Devlin Whitehorn and… Cornelius Agrippa." Whitehorn was the creator of the Nimbus company, and Agrippa was some writer.

"You got Agrippa?" Remus asked excitedly, "can we trade?"

"Agrippa for Bertie Bott? Deal" Peter laughed. They slowly moved the cards towards each other, and at the same time, they took the other. Peter looked at the back of the card.

 _Bertie Bott was born in 1935. He invented Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans quite by mistake. His original purpose was to create tasty candies from food. He accidentally included a pair of dirty socks in his experiment!_

"Hey, I didn´t know this" Peter exclaimed.

"Me neither, it´s kind of funny" Remus agreed, "I have heard the best inventions in the world was created by accident."

Peter actually had Bertie Bott at home, he hadn´t read the back before. About the trading thing… he just wanted to make Remus happy, and besides chocolate frogs isn´t the coolest thing in the world. Okay, that´s a lie, but friends are way more important!

"Want a Bertie Bott bean?" Peter asked and showed the bag to Remus who wrinkled his nose.

"Only if you take one too" Remus dared.

"You´re on it" Peter laughed.

Remus slowly picked one of the beans, and Peter took a random one. "We have to eat the whole thing and the loser has to… eat ten at the same time" Peter said dramatically.

"Deal"

"But what if we both eat it? Then maybe neither of us do it? Or we could try again?" Peter suggested.

Remus snorted, and Peter sends him a confused look. "Like you are gonna eat the whole thing" he laughed a bit but tried to hold it back.

Peter made his fake-offended face, "what?" he asked in a high-pitched voice, he cleared his throat and tried again in a bit deeper voice. "What? Why don´t you think I can do that?" he asked, actually a little bit offended.

"Nothing," Remus said secretly but couldn´t hide the grin on his face, "are we gonna eat it or not?"

They ate the bean at the same time, Peter wanted to prove to Remus that he could, in fact, eat one, no matter what it tasted like. Though when he got it into his mouth, he immediately wanted to spit it out. It tasted like… candy, and egg, with bread? Carrots and cucumbers in one bite, and just an overall ugliness, perhaps socks and snot…?

Peter quickly reached for the empty chocolate frog box and spit it out, he then quickly reached for the frog he hadn´t been eating yet and tried to get the taste away. Remus sat peacefully while eating his bean and witness Peter´s suffering. He had a little smile on his face.

"How can you eat that?" Peter exclaimed.

Remus grinned. "It´s chocolate, yours?"

"Uhh… candy, egg, bread, carrot, cucumber, socks and snot."

Peter´s friend nodded understanding. "Vomit" he declared. Peter made a disgusted face. He couldn´t believe he had just been eating vomit… or just tasted it? Was it actual vomit or just the taste of it? No matter what it´s disgusting.

"Here, give me the bag to me, I´ll find your ten beans" Remus declared and reached for the bag. He carefully picked the ten beans, and at last handed them to Peter, while also taking another one himself. Peter swallowed and placed them all in his mouth.

The sweetest taste was on his tongue. Strawberry, banana, apple it was all tad too sweet but tasted wonderful at the same time. Then lemon, lime and red-grape step forward along with vanilla. Lastly whipped cream, pear and orange. It all became a mixture in each other, kind of weird, but still tasted amazing.

When he swallowed the last bit Peter could still taste it all in his mouth.

Remus smiled. "Liked it?" he asked with interest.

"Yeah" Peter nodded. Then it hit him, why did Remus ask that way? "You knew!" he accused.

Remus laughed. "Guilty" he declared himself.

"But how? People aren´t supposed to know, Bertie Bott has made them a way where no one is able to find out by using magic."

"That´s just it!" Remus exclaimed excitedly, he had been waiting a little while to tell this. "I didn´t use magic."

Peter looked confused at his friend, how could he possibly know if he didn´t use magic? "If you didn´t use magic, then how could you know?"

"You can see it on them," Remus said excitedly and picked two beans from the bag. "See?" he asked and looked expectant at Peter, who felt like he stared at two identical beans. Peter narrowed his eyes and looked at them again, they were still identical.

"Nope" he shook his head.

"Oh well, there is a difference" Remus insisted, he ate the good bean and also found a random one, "try this, it´s the last good one"

Peter hesitantly did so. The bean tasted like… chicken? Okay, it really is _every flavoured_. "It tastes like chicken" he announced, "but it´s good, you will have to teach me to see the difference!"

Remus grinned.

The two boys had fun on the rest of the trip to Platform 9 ¾, the Hogwarts express was so much better when you had a good friend with you. Peter had almost forgotten what it feels like to be lonely, it was only when Remus was gone to meet his mom.

The train stopped, the boys decided the wait a bit to avoid all the crowding, mostly Remus but Peter didn´t mind. He wanted to stay at the train for as long as possible. When they had waited five minutes, Remus and Peter had to leave the train.

There weren´t many people left on the platform. Lily Evans was busy informing her parents all about Hogwarts, another girl stood grumpily next to them. Peter spotted his mom and little sister Leena, they were waving. The two boys went over there.

"Hi" Peter greeted.

Leena took one glance at Remus and quickly exclaimed: "you are _so_ small."

Peter´s mom sends her a stern look, the turned to Peter again. "How was Hogwarts?"

"Good," Peter told, "this is my friend Remus Lupin" he quickly added.

"Hi, it´s nice to meet you" Remus greeted and raised his hand to shake it. Peter´s mom took it and smiled.

"I´m Gisele. Where are your parents?"

"Uhh…" Remus looked around the platform, they were the only ones left, it was strangely quiet. "My mom is probably at home… and my dad should be here any minute."

"Do you want us to wait with you?" Peter asked seriously and a little bit worried. Why wasn´t his dad here yet? Maybe something happened to his mom? Though that thought didn´t seem to cross Remus´ mind, he didn´t seem worried at all.

Instead, he actually smiled. "It´s okay, he will be here any minute, but thanks." Peter looked at Remus and tried to read his expression. Was his friend really okay? How can you see on someone if they need help if they don't ask? "I´m fine" Remus added.

Peter pulled Remus in for a hug, which the other boy happily returned. It didn´t last that long, but it felt nice. "Owl me when you´re home," he said as they had pulled apart.

"Of course," Remus replied.

Peter, Leena and their mom went through the barrier, just a moment before Peter walked through, he looked back and waved to Remus, who waved back. With a little smile on his face, Peter walked away from platform 9 ¾ to Kings Cross station.

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

He woke up the next morning to an owl tapping his window. At first, Peter didn´t recognize it, still, he opened it, the owl dropped a letter in front of him, then sat on the bed. The letter was from Remus, probably why he didn´t recognize the owl.

 _Dear Peter_

 _I´m sorry I didn´t write to you last night, my dad surprised me, we were hanging out in London the whole afternoon, so I didn´t have access to an owl. When I came home it was really late and I didn´t want to bother you. I hope it okay._

 _I´m missing you already._

 _My parents and I are decorating today, baking cookies and stuff while my mom still feels just somehow alright. What about you?_

 _I have talked with them, and both would be happy for us to hang out, though it would be best at your place. If that isn´t possible we can be here._

 _My mom tells me to buy you a present, but I don't know, do we do that kind of thing? If, maybe you could send me a list of something you would like?_

 _I hope to see you soon, and if not, Happy Christmas._

 _Sincerely Remus_

Peter smiled, Kayson was wrong, someone actually did want to write to him, and even because they wanted to. He quickly grabbed a quill and scribbled down his answer on the back.

 _Dear Remus_

 _It´s okay about last night, thank you for not waking me up, though your owl did, you know how much I sleep every night yourself._

 _They have already been decorating here, and I think they are baking later._

 _I have talked to my mom too, I can hang out someday, before Christmas, I hope. We can hang out here if it is, I can´t wait to see you again._

 _We can buy presents for each other if you want, I guess that is something friends do, though only if you want it too._

 _I miss you too and hope to see you soon, Happy Christmas to you too, though I hope to tell you that in person._

 _Sincerely Peter_

Remus´ owl still waited on the bed, it was probably ordered to wait until Peter had responded. He quickly attached the letter and opened the window, but the owl simply looked at it. It didn´t move an inch.

"What?" Peter asked it hooted in response. He rolled his eyes, owls weren´t great communicators, animals in general. His own owl, Maria, was hooting in her cage. Peter quickly gave her some food. The owl on the bed jumped a bit and turned to Peter. "You hungry?"

It hooted again.

"Stop that noise!" an angry voice yelled from the other side of the door. Peter sighed and quickly gave the owl some food. He unlocked the cage and they both flew out together.

Peter looked after them. They were both so beautiful and free. Couldn´t he just be an owl? It would be so great to just fly around every day and not have to worry about a thing.

Isn´t there some kind of transfiguration spell that can turn someone into an owl? It would be so amazing to fly, of course, brooms were a thing, but Peter can´t really fly on those… though it would be great. His dad had… he had been a Quidditch player, keeper, Peter had wanted to be the same, but with his skills on a broom, something like that would never happen.

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

He couldn´t really… remember? Recall? A good Christmas, anytime at all. It was just another thing that had to be done. Maybe he could actually enjoy it if the circumstances were different.

But they weren´t so he couldn´t

Peter didn´t say much throughout the whole dinner. He never did, there wasn´t much to say. Everyone else was talking like their life depended on it. Florence and Leena were talking very good with each other, though Taliyah was part of it, in some way. Their cousins were loud as usual. Chili was being cute. Kayson were talking loud about something, probably politics, he had to prove his point. His mom was silent.

Always silent.

Though she seemed to be one of the few people who were silent. It was her and Peter. Everybody else talked at least a little bit. The only one who notices is Taliyah, but she never knows what to say.

Every Christmas is the same, they are all bad. Okay not bad, sure everyone else is having a great time. Only everyone else though. Peter walked around the Christmas tree and only hoped that it would end soon. Mumbling to the songs.

Tradition had it that the kids would pick a present from under the tree, see who it was for, and then give it to the person. Peter used to like it, but he didn´t want to walk around like that, like a child or something… mostly because he didn´t want to feel less because of Kayson, who was brilliant at making people feel less.

Peter missed Remus and thought of him the whole time. Remus didn´t make him feel less, actually the opposite, he made Peter feel more. Feel worth it. That was a really nice feeling.

"Peter?" Florence was standing before him, she had a present in her hand, Peter took it and carefully unwrapped the paper. Kayson´s rule, you weren´t allowed to ruin the paper, it could be re-used.

It was from his mom and Kayson. Which means his mom bought it, and his name is only there to make it seem like they both got it for him. Inside there was a picture frame, with a picture in it. His dad. When he was about twenty perhaps.

After looking at it for a while, Peter turned the frame and found twenty galleons on the other side. The present was definitely only from his mom.

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

Peter walked through the graveyard. The last time he had been here it was summer, and the sun was shining. There was frost on the ground, his breath made small clouds, Peter was freezing, but he had to go. Everyone else was inside, enjoying Christmas morning and opening presents, they were probably the only people in whole Great Britain who opened presents on Christmas Eve.

He was all alone again.

A sudden desire ran through him, Peter couldn´t tell what it was. He just wanted… he didn´t even know what he wanted. Change? For things to be different? Yes, that was it, but how could things ever change?

Peter found the stone he had looked at so many times before, had longed towards so many times before, it was just there, yet still so far away. How would things have been if his dad hadn´t died in that accident? Would his mom have stayed with him, or would things have been exactly like they are now?

He sighed. "Hi dad…" the stone gave no reply "Happy Christmas" he tried but got nothing. Peter sat down on the cold hard ground, his butt instantly turned wet and frozen. He couldn´t bring himself to care at the moment.

"How would you have done it?" he asked to start a conversation or something. "Would we be opening presents in the morning, or in the evening?"

There was a slight breeze, Peter smiled to himself. The cold made his nose red. "Yeah, we would open in the evening, I don't think I would be able to wait. You probably give amazing gifts…" a tear unwillingly escaped his eyes. "Gave" he whispered.

Peter wanted to break something, to just throw stones at the words hunting him. But he didn´t. he couldn´t bring himself to ruin it. He sat still.

"I bet it would be much better with you here…" that´s what he always told himself, though it never made him happy, all the things it could have been, but wasn´t. "We could… we could talk about things together… my friend, his mom is sick, she might die…"

He didn´t know what to say, but Peter knew he had to get it out. "I don't want that to happen for him, but… I want someone to understand… I know its selfish, I'm sorry…" he sighed, "do you think it would be worse or better for him? He knows his mom, I-"

Peter sighed once more, he raised himself from the ground. "I got to go… bye" he quickly left. But before he turned the corner and was no longer able to see the grave, Peter looked back. It was all silent. The sun was about to go up.

 **/Thank you for reading. Mind review?**

 **If this didn´t make any sense, go back and read chapter 2 as I said earlier! /**


	19. Traditions

**I updated again, as you might have noticed.**

 **We almost hit 2k views thank you so much, guys!**

 **I have become addicted to 'Big fish' on Facebook… ups.**

 **And I let my four-year-old little sister name James´ owl...**

 **DISCLAIMER JK Rowling owes characters and stuff, and Disney/H.C. Anderson owns something I wrote near the end, you will get it when you see it.**

 **Last time: almost the entire population of Hogwarts went home for Christmas. Peter and Remus had a brilliant time at the Hogwarts express. We heard about Peter´s Christmas.**

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

 **Traditions**

Sirius was… quiet, quieter than he had been on his first trip on the Hogwarts express. Honestly, he had been very quiet on that trip, but not since after he met James. His mouth hadn´t had a break in four months.

James enjoyed it rather much, at least he liked it more than the quiet Sirius, who insisted he was fine, and everything was fine. The thing is that nothing seemed fine. Sirius was quiet and that was bad. He had tried to have a conversation with James, but he was distant every time. It was strange.

The two boys had managed to get a compartment for themselves, no one else wanted to sit with them. It was rather nice, it was easier for James to talk with Sirius that way. Not easy enough apparently. He managed to get Sirius to laugh at some point like truly laugh, though it had been short, and he quickly went back to being shut down. And boring.

He had hoped the two could have a nice time before they weren´t going to see each other for three long weeks.

"Sirius?" James tried again.

"Yeah?" came the response.

"Are you _sure_ you are fine?"

Sirius rolled his eyes and smirked. "I´m seriously fine."

James didn´t laugh at his joke but continued in a serious tone. "Then why aren´t you talking to me? Are you mad at me or something?" he tried to say the last part like it didn´t matter, though Sirius might have spotted it because he looked regretful.

"No, nothing like that! I just… I don't even know, I´m just down, I guess. It's not because of you!" Sirius looked directly into James´ eyes, making sure he knew he meant it. James nodded to show that he did.

"If there is… anything, just talk to me, I don't want you to be upset about anything" he said truthfully.

Sirius relaxed in his whole body and smiled. "Thanks. I know you will help… and I will too"

James smiled as well. "Thanks"

"Hey, that´s what friends are for" Sirius stated with a smile still on his lips. The train stopped, and his smile quickly faded. Before James could say anything, Sirius had raised himself and was ready to leave, he quickly copied his friend. They stood before each other for a moment.

On the exact same time, they leaned forward and pulled each other into a hug.

"I´ll miss you" James said when they had pulled apart.

"I´ll miss you too" Sirius replied.

They smiled at each other and walked out on the platform, James quickly spotted both his mom and dad, they smiled at him and he smiled back. James turned to Sirius to say his goodbye.

"Bye," he said, "see you in three weeks." It was kind of supposed to be a question, but on the other hand not. Of course, they would see each other after the break. Why wouldn´t they?

"Yeah," his friend replied, "see you."

They both smiled at each other and then left to find their parents. James quickly walked towards them, he had been so worried about being away from Sirius in three weeks, that he had almost forgotten he had already been away from his parents in about four months.

James ran the last bit and embraced his dad and mom. He hadn´t even realized how much he had missed them. His mom placed a big kiss on his forehead, he quickly took a few steps back. "Mo-om" he exclaimed and looked around to see if anyone had seen him.

Both of his parents laughed, James relaxed and smiled. It was sure nice to see them again. He heard a loud bang, someone was appariting.

"We better get going," Euphemia said, the platform was filled up with people, just a tad too many, James grabbed his trunk and left the platform with his parents.

"So, how is Hogwarts?" Fleamont asked, his mom was walking a bit ahead of them.

"Great" James exclaimed, "Sirius and I have already found the hidden passageway behind Gregory the Smarmy." He paused a bit and then whispered. "The dungbombs you sent were brilliant."

His dad didn´t seem to have caught on to the last comment, his face was in a frown. "Sirius? As in Black? Are you friends with a Black?" he asked a bit worried.

Before James could defend his friend, his mom quickly exclaimed: "Fleamont! Stop being so judgemental, if James is friends with him, we have to accept that."

Fleamont looked apologetic. "I´m sorry James, I´m sure he is nice."

"He is" James stated. "Actually, he is not like his family at all. I made him stop saying… the m-word and he will talk with his parents about it in the holidays."

His parents send each other a look that James ignored. They walked in silence to their car, a Daff 66. It wasn´t until they were almost home, that they began talking again.

"So… how did you and Bl-Sirius meet?" Fleamont asked finally.

"On the train. We meet there and talked and became friends, he likes pranks too." James told and thought back. They probably didn´t really have the best-first meeting, not when the first thought James had when they met was to prank the guy.

"How is it to be friends with someone from another house?" his mom asked. James knew she meant how it is to be friends with someone from Slytherin, but wouldn´t discriminate it like that.

He was about to answer, but his dad came first. "Bl-Sirius is a Gryffindor like James. The whole ministry talked about it, I head Orion Black even visited Dumbledore to get him moved to Slytherin instead. Without any luck."

James had wide eyes. "Really? How can anyone do that?"

Fleamont sighed. "You know the Black´s value tradition very much."

"Sirius mentioned that" James mumbled. The day they met. He said his parents would be really mad for breaking tradition, and the next day he had gotten a howler.

"Slytherin is also about ambition, they will do whatever it takes to get things the way they want. Orion Black just is like that. And all other Slytherins for that matter." Fleamont told, clearly avoiding adding a bad comment about it.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Not in all cases. The way someone does it can be a bit extreme, but it can also just be something as innocent as wanting a great job or wanting to be the best in class, that kind of ambition is, of course, great. If no one ever tried, we would come nowhere."

James thought a little and took all the information in. Sirius´ family… are they evil? That was what Sirius´ was going to find out, but… they taught him to say the m-word.

Is Sirius evil like them?

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

Nope, no, definitely not. James had thought about the question that had been haunting him for a very long time now. Sirius can´t be evil. He is a Gryffindor. _He is my friend_. He can´t be evil. Sirius had thought what had happened to the girl from Hufflepuff´s family was awful, and he would never do that. Only someone who is evil would do that.

And he didn´t say the m-word anymore. James had explained why he didn´t want Sirius to say it, and he had stopped at the moment… or he had tried, sometimes he said it out of habit. Though he is trying, and that is what matters.

James was laying in his bed. Christmas was only a few days away, and he hadn´t heard from Sirius at all, and when he tried to send a letter, he got it back with a very grumpy owl. He hadn´t shared any of this information with his parents.

Maybe he should? Would they be able to help? Did Sirius even need help?

He couldn´t help but think something was wrong, Sirius hadn´t seemed at all happy when they parted at the platform. Also, the letter he got on the day of the Quidditch match had been delivered by a black owl. Just like all the other times, he got a letter from his family.

Though unlike all the other times, he had become upset reading the letter. Sirius had refused to talk about it, saying that it was nothing. And it seemed fine. They enjoyed the match together right after, and there he seemed fine. Until Snivellus came, he didn´t become sad, he only seemed… less happy.

It would be so much easier if Sirius would just tell him. Or reply to his owl at least.

Finally, James got out of bed and dressed. He would try and send an owl again, perhaps it was the weather. It´s actually pretty cold outside. If he used the family-owl instead of his own one, then maybe it could work. That one had more experience and was a bit stronger.

He went for his desk and began to write another letter.

 _Dear Sirius_

 _Happy Christmas._

 _I really miss you and I wish we could celebrate Christmas together. It´s not all fun and games when you don´t have any cousins or siblings to play with._

 _How do you celebrate Christmas?_

 _I have been sending you lots of letters, but they all come back unopened. And Regnbue ((my owl)) hates to fly in the cold weather. Could you please reply soon?_

 _I thought that we could maybe meet up sometime before school?_

 _Your friend_

 _James_

It looked exactly like all the other letters he had been writing, but how should Sirius know that when he hadn´t been reading any of them. James quickly ran downstairs.

Like all the other days, Fleamont had already left for work. They have surprisingly much work seeing as it´s Christmas, though he had promised to be home for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.

"Finally decided to wake up?" His mom asked. She was sitting in the kitchen and drinking coffee while reading a book.

"Yup" he exclaimed. "Can I borrow Hari? Regnbue is tired of flying when it snows."

"Of course," Euphemia replied warmly. "Another letter to Sirius?"

James nodded slowly. He then walked towards their owlery. Or what you should call it. Basically, it´s just a room for their owls, his mom doesn´t want them to make a mess in the house, so they build an attachment to the house for the owls, from where they could fly in, and fly out.

Regnbue and Hari sat in their own little bird-houses. There was room for them to fly around if they wanted to, though James would also prefer a warm bed rather than flying around right now. Something he never thought he would say.

He went straight towards Hari, which made Regnbue hoot offended.

"I thought you didn´t want to fly outside?" he asked and felt a little silly for talking to an owl. She hooted once more and buried herself deeper into the blankets and hay. "Thought so."

Hari showed his leg to James so that he could attach the letter. Clearly playing big, he wouldn´t letter the weather prevent him from delivering a letter. Regnbue obviously thought she was smarter. It doesn´t really matter who delivers the letter, as long as it comes out. Hari flew out and James walked towards Regnbue.

"You´re a great owl," he said and stroked her head. She hooted happily, and James left with a smile on his face.

When he entered the kitchen there was a plate with egg and bacon, and a cup of hot chocolate. "Thanks, mom," he said and happily began eating. She smiled warmly to him from behind her book. It didn´t take long before he had finished, he sat a little while and just enjoyed being in presence with his mom. She could honestly warm a room by just being in it.

"He hasn´t replied yet, has he?" she asked suddenly. James found no point in lying, so he nodded. There was a little silence. "He is alright" she comforted.

"But what if he isn´t?" James cried he held back a tear. It had all been building up inside of him, so he hadn´t even realized how worried he is. James just kept trying to tell himself that surely Sirius was alright.

Euphemia reached for his hands, they felt warm around his. "It´s okay James, of course, he will be alright. If you love him then that´s enough."

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

It was Christmas.

The little James was only seven years old, but so filled with energy. You never know where he is, one moment you can talk with him in the kitchen, the next he is in the living room, and telling a joke to someone else.

He tried to be the centre of all attention. All the time. It was a small family reunion. James was the only kid there, and he was bored. All the adults were talking about adult-stuff, not something a seven-year-old is even the slightest interested in. Though he tried. He tried to get their attention and make everything about him.

But they were too boring. All of them. Have they even ever heard of fun?

James begged some of them to play exploding snap with him or gobstones. His aunt had brought a muggle-game, apparently, her new husband was a muggle. James thought it was really funny, though they didn´t play for too long, his aunt and her husband wanted to talk with the other adults.

The house looked perfect. There were Christmas decorations everywhere, in bright colours, mostly red and golden. Something his dad had made happened. There was, of course, other colours too, like green, white, silver and stuff. But mostly red and gold.

Their tree looked the best. His mom had enchanted the star, so it was shining brighter than a regular star, it was something she had found in a muggle-store. It almost looked like a real star.

He had spotted a large present under the tree, and while no one was looking, James had peeked. It was for him. Why was it they had to wait for the morning before they could open the presents?

"James, it´s time to read the Christmas tale," his mom told. They had it as a tradition that his dad would always read a Christmas story to everyone right before they took home or went to sleep. It was with no doubt his favourite one.

"Coming mom" James smiled.

All of his family were already sitting there. James sat beside his mom and looked expectantly at his dad, every year the story would be better than the last one.

Fleamont were sitting with a thick book, he looked at everyone to see if they were ready. He then cleared his throat and began telling.

 _The two royal sisters couldn´t remember the last time they had had Christmas together, ever since their parents had died, the two sisters hadn´t been talking a lot. Not that they did before anyways._

 _The older sister was carrying a curse, as she called it. Her name was Elsa. She couldn´t see the beauty in her magic, only the danger._

 _The younger sister was the exact opposite of her sister. Her name was Anna. When she knew about it, she loved the magic Elsa was making. She could make it snow inside and they could ice skate everywhere they wanted. But that was when she knew about it._

 _When they were both very small. Elsa and Anna used to be the best of friends, but after an accident, they didn´t see each other anymore._

 _Elsa had been put ice in Anna´s head by accident. Their parents knew exactly where to go, so they went for some magic trolls who saved Anna, but she wouldn´t be able to remember Elsa´s powers._

 _The years passed. Elsa hid in her room to make sure Anna was safe, she couldn´t let what had happened happen again. She had hurt her sister, something she could never forgive herself for._

 _Anna came by every day and begged Elsa to play with her, but she refused. She was afraid. Afraid of herself and afraid of hurting one of the few people she knew and loved._

 _Their parents passed away on the sea._

 _More years passed, it was time for Elsa to become queen. That was the day Anna discovered her powers again. Elsa ended up freezing the whole kingdom before Anna made her realize what exactly she needed to control her powers. To make them beautiful instead of frightening._

 _Love._

 _And everything seemed fine, for a very long time. But then Christmas came around, it was their first Christmas together since the accident._

 _What was their family tradition?_

 _One of their very good friends, a magic snowman called Olaf, visited every house in the whole kingdom to hear about their traditions, and find one for Anna and Elsa. Though fate would have it that he should disappear in the woods._

 _Meanwhile, Elsa found Anna in their loft, here they made an amazing discovery._

 _That was about the time they discovered that Olaf was gone. He was a friend of everyone, so the whole kingdom went looking for him. They looked everywhere, and it seemed impossible._

 _It was getting dark and people were afraid something bad had happened to him._

 _Then something amazing happened. A star on the sky began glowing, it was shining brighter than all the other stars combined. Everyone headed towards it, and under, they found none other than Olaf the magic snowman._

 _He was miserable for not being able to find a tradition to them._

 _With warm smiles, they told him that he was their tradition._

 _All those years ago, before the accident, Anna and Elsa used to build snowmen together. One snowman in particular. Olaf. And even though they didn´t celebrate Christmas with each other, Anna made Olaf-related presents for Elsa every year._

 _Their tradition was Olaf._

 _It was family._

No one had been interrupting Fleamont while he had been telling the story. After it had ended, they all just looked at each other and smiled. Hugged. Christmas is about family, that´s what they had now.

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

James remembered the Christmas four years ago very well. It was the last one he had been celebrating with his aunt. Every story his dad had told, James could remember. He almost knew them by heart.

And the big present for him. It was a broomstick, his first broomstick to be exact. His dad had learned James to fly the broom the day he had gotten it.

Even though he had been really bored because there was no one to play with, James still thought of that as the best Christmas ever. It had had everything that mattered.

Family.

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

James was sick of worry. It had been three weeks, and he hadn´t heard a word from Sirius. Not a single word, he was on the edge, what if anything bad had happened to him?

Platform 9 ¾ was filled with people reuniting, being sad that they had to leave their families again, being sad that they had to go back to school and stuff. James was the only person who seemed worried. He spotted Pettigrew somewhere, probably looking for Lupin.

"It´s alright, he will be here, maybe he is already on the train" his mom comforted. James relaxed just a tad, of course, he would come. Why wouldn`t he come? Sirius will come, or maybe he is on the train looking for James. Or at the platform. There were many people and it was hard to see everything.

He spotted some black hair at the entrance. Sirius. Before thinking James ran over there and quickly embraced Sirius, the other boy stood still. He was already wearing his uniform. James ended the hug, but still held on to his shoulders. His eyes looked dark, they were tired, Sirius looked a lot thinner than when they had last seen each other. He didn´t even smile as he looked at James, who instantly became worried. His smile faltered.

"Sirius, are you alright?"

Sirius cleared his throat before answering. "Yeah, yeah, of course" his voice was weak. "It´s good to see you again."

"It´s good to see you too" he mumbled and didn´t remove his eyes from Sirius´ face. People began boarding the train. James pulled Sirius in for another hug, it seemed as if the other boy needed it right now. "My trunk is in the last compartment," he said as they pulled apart. "I´m gonna say goodbye to my mom, then I´ll see you there?"

He slowly nodded. Sirius walked slowly towards the train while James quickly walked back to his mom. He wrapped his arms around her and held tight. "Bye, mom."

"Bye Honey, remember to write, okay"

"Course mom"

James turned around and walked towards the train, but right before he walked in, the boy turned around once more and waved to his mom, who waved back with a smile on her face.

 **/Remember to like and review and stuff thank you very much.** **And Happy Christmas/**


	20. Starless

**Happy Christmas y'all**

 **We hit more than 2k views you guys thaaaaaaanks**

 **Now we only need one more Christmas story**

 **DISCLAIMER JK owes stuff and stuff. Stuff.**

 **Last time: James is worried about Sirius, his friend does not reply to any of his letters, nor seem happy when he last saw him. We heard about a Christmas memory from James.**

… **. …. …. …. …. …. ….**

 **Starless**

Family.

Tradition.

Family and Tradition.

The two most important things in the entire world. Without family you have no one, traditions come along with family. You can´t have the one without the other. Both are important.

Sirius was taught to value family and tradition. It´s more important than anything, that and being better than everyone else. Always better, if you aren´t the best, you aren´t good enough.

That is pretty hard to live with, seeing as the standards your parents set are so high. But Sirius lived with it. He had been living with it his whole life, he always tried to be the best in everything and had never seen anything wrong with that. Not until this day on platform 9 3/4.

"Bye," James said, "see you in three weeks" he added and smiled.

"Yeah," Sirius replied, "see you."

James ran towards his parents and gave them both a giant hug, while Sirius slowly appropriated his father and brother. Regulus smiled at him with worried eyes, while his dad had a stern look on his face. Making a frown. Sirius didn´t even dare to look at him.

Orion Black showed his arm to Sirius who put his hand on it, with a loud bang they disapparated back to Grimmauld place. But right before, he saw James hugging his parents, and then they all laughed. Sirius didn´t even get the time to register where he was when he was suddenly shoved backwards. He landed on his back and felt all air flew out of his lungs and made a groan.

Sirius didn´t even have time to breathe in when he felt a large foot kick into his side.

"Blood-traitor!" Orion spat and aimed a foot at his oldest son once more. Sirius tried not to groan or make any noises, he knew it would only make it worse. "Go to your room!" his father screamed and kicked just one more time.

He heard his father leave the room. Finally, Sirius opened his eyes, it took a while before his eyes got used to the dark. Grimmauld sure is darker than he remembered. Sirius raised himself slowly and tried not to hurt his side even more.

Where had Regulus gone? He had been with them on the platform, though when did he leave the living room? They hadn´t even had the chance to say hello to each other.

Sirius walked as careful as he could to his room. The pain was almost gone, it wasn´t even that bad, but he hadn´t been punished by them in four months. Had he gone soft? Kicks in the side were for minimum punishments. Maybe they weren´t as mad as Regulus had thought they were, maybe he didn´t even get punished for being in Gryffindor. Maybe it was for the prank.

With the heavy trunk and the pain in his side, it took quite a while for Sirius to get to his room. But he finally reached it, his door was already open. Sirius opened he the door wide and walked in. It was all green and silver, snakes decorated the furniture and walls. It was also a lot darker than he remembered, dark floor, dark ceiling, dark furniture and dark room. Everything seemed very dark.

Nothing like the Gryffindor common-room or dorm, they were both always light and filled with colour. And noise. It was so quiet here.

Suddenly the door slammed, and it made a clicking noise. Sirius quickly ran there to open it, but it wouldn´t even move an inch.

He was trapped.

Everything seemed to become just a tad darker. Quickly, Sirius opened his trunk and found his light-ball that Regulus had given him years ago, he went to the middle of the room and made it float there. His whole room was filled with a dreamy blue light, something that made things light, but wasn´t so light you wouldn´t be able to sleep from it.

Sirius then turned to his dresser to see if Regulus had kept his promise, he was delighted to not only find toast and water, but also a little slice of cake and a slice of meat to put on the toast. Then he sat down on his bed and began to think.

Could this really be his punishment?

Locked up in his room and only a few kicks, they didn´t seem as mad as Regulus had made them to be. Perhaps his brother was just overreacting, but then again, they couldn´t be mad at him for something that wasn´t his fault, the hat had sorted him, he hadn´t chosen to be Gryffindor.

He took the light-ball and sat down on his bed with it, if his parents came, they shouldn´t see it. It would just make them mad. That´s the last thing Sirius needs right now.

Though despite it all, he relaxed a bit. If he just kept low profile and acted well, he could celebrate Christmas with Regulus. That´s what they both wanted, and his parents as well, it wasn´t their fault they had to punish him.

Sirius laid down and closed his eyes, the light-ball felt a bit warm in his hands, though it was very nice, his parents must have 'forgotten' to turn up the heat in his room as a part of the punishment.

He took in a deep breath through his nose and noticed a weird scent. It smelled… old, but he couldn´t quite put his finger on what it should be. Sirius raised himself from the bed and began searching the room with the ball, though the smell seemed to come from everywhere.

While he walked around, Sirius accidentally touched his desk, there was a weird feeling on it, and when he took a closer look, Sirius discovered that it was dust. And it was everywhere. On the floor, furniture and even bed. It was a thin layer, but it was still there. Had the house elves not cleaned his room while he was gone?

Surely, they should have, it´s not exactly healthy to be in a room with dust everywhere. But they hadn´t, there was clear evidence. Was that part of the punishment as well? Surely it couldn´t be, they had probably just forgotten to clean it.

"House-elf!" he said into the room, right after he had turned the light-ball off, there went a shiver down his spine, though he tried to ignore it, Sirius heard a bang and knew there was an elf in his room. "There is dust everywhere" he stated.

"Yes, master Sirius" answered the elf, Sirius recognized the voice and assumed that it was Kreacher. There wasn´t another bang, which meant Kreacher was still in the room.

"Well, clean it!" he ordered. Unknowingly to Sirius, Kreacher just stared with a malicious glint in his eyes, perhaps even with a smile on his small grey lips. Sirius was getting impatient. "Do as I say!" he ordered.

"But master Sirius…" Kreacher began with his most insinuatingly voice. "Master Orion has said no."

Sirius froze. "F-Father has?" there was no reply, but Sirius took it as a yes. "Is he aware that is isn´t healthy to be in?" he continued with his most demanding and snobbish voice.

There was a little laugh in the room that echoed between the walls. Sirius only now realized he didn´t know where Kreacher was standing, he held tighter around light-ball and used all his willpower to not turn it on.

"Yes, master Orion is very aware"

Then there was a bang, and Sirius was now alone in the dark. He quickly turned the light-ball on, there were two footsteps at where Kreacher had been standing. The whole place seemed way too dark and cold for Sirius´ liking. His stomach clenched, it knew it was about to be dinner time, though he only had very little food, and had no idea how long he was supposed to be here. Therefor Sirius went hungry to bed.

His sleep was very peaceful.

The peace was very short though because the next morning he was wakened up very early by a loud bang. His room was no longer pitch-black. The sun wasn´t even up yet when Sirius stared at Beast the house elf. "Breakfast" it growled and disappeared.

Sirius sighed, he had almost forgotten what it was like to be woken up every day by a house elf that didn´t care about loud bangs. He quickly found some wizard robes, they were black, and it made his stomach clench in a weird way. It shouldn´t feel weird, he shouldn´t feel bad, the Hogwarts uniform is also black.

As quick as possible he got downstairs, his parents hated when he was late, though he found all of them sitting around the table already. There was no plate at his usual seat.

" _Sit_ " his father ordered and Sirius did as he told. Sirius tried to remember all the table manners he hadn´t cared about in his time at Hogwarts.

Neither Regulus or his mom looked at him.

"There has been some… very unfortunate events a couple of months ago" his father said, clearly playing important, Sirius bit his lip to avoid saying anything that would get him into more trouble. "My _son_ , Sirius Orion Black, who even carries my name, have broken a century-long tradition-"

"Father-"

"Do not interrupt!" Orion warned. Sirius nodded silently and went back to biting his lip.

"He became a _Gryffindor_ instead of Slytherin like everybody else in our family," he said Gryffindor like it was a bad thing. Disgusting even. Sirius tightened his hands and bit his lip a bit harder. It was weird how quickly you become protective over your own house, Sirius had always liked Slytherin the most, but now he saw nothing wrong with Gryffindor, he even liked it. "Unfortunately he will therefore receive punishment-"

"It wasn´t my fault!" Sirius snapped. They had always talked about it like it was his fault, with the howler and all the letters Regulus had made. But it wasn´t. it wasn´t even a fault, it was a good thing, he was in Gryffindor because he fit in there. And he also felt good being there, it was comfortable and pleasant, noisy, but nothing was ever boring. Every day was like an adventure, and Sirius really enjoyed that.

But he regretted saying anything as soon as the words had left his mouth. Nothing Sirius said would change his parent´s view on the things, when he spoke up it only made everything worse.

Orion sends him an angry look and then continued. "As I said, _he_ will, of course, receive punishment for his sins… but, if he regrets his choices and begs for forgiveness, we might consider making the punishment small, but still considered worthy."

Sirius sat in silence as they all looked expectant at him. There is no way Sirius would apologize for something that isn´t his fault.

"Well, it seems as if he has made a decision" he sounded disappointed, though not surprised. "Go to your room!" he ordered with an angry voice.

He did it. Sirius left the table and went for his room, the door locked behind him again. He turned the light-ball on and ate a bite of toast from the locker, also one when it became time for dinner.

Every morning Sirius was forced out of his room to beg for forgiveness, there is no way he would do as his father and the rest of the family pleased. He was quickly becoming visibly thinner, Hogwarts with is delicious meals every day seemed far away. James seemed far away.

Though nothing could make Sirius give up his pride, it was basically the only thing he had left. Sirius was delighted to find out that the glass of water Regulus had given him was one of those that kept refilling itself. The plates were another story.

It didn´t take long before all the food was gone. Sirius almost couldn´t sleep at night because he was hungry. There was a constant clench in his stomach that wouldn´t go away, he felt as if he could eat a dragon. Or two. His family eating delicious breakfast every morning didn´t exactly help.

Ten days it had been since his first morning in Grimmauld place. Every morning was worse than the other, he couldn´t even begin to describe how it felt to wake up every morning and had to walk downstairs, and up again.

His stomach spoke up before his pride. "I´m so sorry mother and father," he said the tenth morning. "My intention was to follow the tradition -I was proud to- but the sneaky sorting-hat placed me in the filthy house that is Gryffindor" he felt something weird inside, it wasn´t a nice feeling. Sirius loved his house and never intended to say anything bad about it, but he was so hungry. "I know it´s too much to ask for, and that it will be very magnanimous of you to forgive me."

There was a little silence, but it was broken by his stomach growling. Sirius tried his best to ignore it and awaited his parent's decision.

"Very well," his father said quietly. "One more day should be enough, then you will eat with the rest of us," he said generously. "Go to your room."

"Yes sir, thank you sir" Sirius quickly said and went to his room again, it had never been easier to walk up there. He had been forgiven -even though he didn´t feel like he had done something that should be forgiven- and he was really happy about that.

Sirius dreamed of pancakes and toast. Egg and bacon. Uhh, maybe even pumpkin juice if they were in a good mood. The thought of that was the only thing that kept him alive during the rest of the day and night.

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

It didn´t take long before Sirius was used to being back at Grimmauld place, he learned to think before he spoke, walking slowly and always look his best. He also got used to the dark pretty quick, though he missed Hogwarts a lot. Also, there weren´t punishment there if you couldn´t do the spells correctly.

Yes, you heard it, Sirius Black used his break to study and practice spells, there is a reason he is number one in almost all his classes, and this was the price he had to pay. Not that he got much of a choice anyway, his parents forced both Sirius and Regulus to study anytime they could, sometimes even when they couldn´t.

Sirius was feeling much better since he had apologized and been forgiven. He got food at all meals.

"Tell me more" Regulus begged whispering. They were supposed to practice the Accio charm, Sirius could summon bigger things now, and small things from a long distance, though Regulus still had trouble with the bigger things.

"We are supposed to study" Sirius rolled his eyes and smiled at his little brother, boy he had missed him.

Regulus folded his hands and made his very best puppy eyes. "Please, please, please."

Sirius laughed. "Okay, okay, just stop that" he relaxed, leaned closer and whispered into his brother´s ear. "What do you wanna know?"

"Everything!" Regulus insisted.

"The castle is huge; every corridor contains new mysteries and riddles. Everything seems magical, I bet there are hundreds of hidden passageways, the grand staircase has stairs that move, it´s very hard to walk on, but you get used to it over time. It´s rather hard to navigate, though, with the point me spell, it's a lot easier, though it seems as I´m the only first-year who can do it."

"What about the classes?"

"Brilliant, there is a lot of homework, though less than mom and dad gives, which gives a lot of time to hang out with friends. Potions are in the dungeons, Astronomy is in the astronomy-tower, Herbology is outside and it´s actually very fun. Defence against the dark arts is very fun, but our teacher is very silly, and probably not of the best standard, though she will only stay for a year so that is okay. Flying class is one of my favourites, even though I´m not that good at it."

Regulus frowned. "How come you not?"

"Other people have practised from home, we can´t really do it here" Sirius explained. "But I wish I was, then I could join the Quidditch team."

"Do you think I can?" Regulus asked with big eyes.

Sirius thought a little, maybe he could. "Yeah, maybe we can ask mother and father to go to a place to practice. There is no hurry though, you can´t join before second year" Regulus smiled. and Sirius instantly felt better. "What position were you thinking of?"

"Seeker, but aren´t you gonna try?"

He shook his head. "If I did, we might have to fight against each other, matters on what house you will be in…" Sirius looked down and hoped Regulus had caught on to what he meant.

"Yeah, that probably wouldn´t be too good" he answered. Sirius sighed disappointed, he hoped that Regulus would be a Gryffindor like him, maybe their parents would feel a bit better about it.

Neither of the boys said anything. Regulus had known what Sirius wanted him to say, that it was a possibility, though he wouldn´t promise anything like that. Their parents would be mad and Regulus wasn´t the kind of person to make others mad.

There was a loud bang in the living room, both brothers looked at the house elf that had appeared. "Christmas dinner is ready,"Monster the house-elf said and disappeared again. They walked out in the kitchen where their parents were already sitting.

The house elves had outdone themselves because of the occasion. Sirius even spotted red wine which his parents only usually drank when they had visitors. Sirius was glad everything between them all was good again, he hated to be on the bad side of Orion and Walburga.

They were eating in silence, as most of the other days. Usually, only his mother and father would speak together, children should only speak when spoken to.

"Well," Orion said finally. "Sirius, you haven´t told us about Hogwarts yet."

He took it as an invitation to speak. "I love it there, it´s much better than I have ever imagined, I can´t wait for Regulus to come next year" he answered truthfully.

"Hmm. I believe so, though it was much better in my time, there almost weren´t any mudbloods around" Orion stated, both he, Walburga and Regulus had a disgusted frown on their face.

Sirius suddenly remembered what he had promised James to talk with them about. This was his chance to talk with them about it, it´s not their fault they didn´t know about how it was now.

"It´s actually not that bad… "everyone looked shocked at him, though he continued. "There is a muggle-born girl in my year who is almost as good as me."

He had expected them to look confused and curious. So, when he looked up and saw both his mother and father staring madly at him, Sirius froze.

"How dare you" Orion spat. "Talk about mudbloods like that, how dare you even sound _proud_ of one of them being better than you!"

"She isn´t!" Sirius exclaimed panicked. "Almost. And it´s not called… that, they are called muggleborns."

"Who in Merlin´s name has filled your head with such lies?" Walburga asked angrily.

"It´s not lies" he stated, James is his friend, he would never lie to Sirius about that. And all the other Gryffindors called them muggleborns too, some even just called them witches or wizards, not caring about their blood-status. "My friend James told-"

"James?" Orion exclaimed with a dangerously low voice. "James who?"

"James Potter, I thought I had-"

"HOW DARE YOU TO BE FRIENDS WITH A BLOOD TRAITOR YOU FILTHY LITTLE MUDBLOOD LOVING FOOL!" Orion yelled, his eyes shined with anger. Sirius' heart was pounding, he had never seen his father this mad before. He wanted to stop but _had_ to explain.

And he had told them about James before, right?

"Muggleborns aren´t bad. They are just as talented at magic as everyone else, even better than some of the purebloods" he said it quickly and awaited their reaction.

There was a long silence where Orion tried to get his breathing under control. Sirius felt as all the others could also hear his pounding heart.

"Take it back!" his father hissed finally.

"No" Sirius stated quietly, too afraid to look into his father´s eyes.

"TAKE IT BACK RIGHT NOW"

"NO!"

In a heartbeat the spell was cast on him, Sirius didn´t even realize at first, Orion didn´t even hesitate. He didn´t regret it even the slightest bit, in his eyes, his first son deserved this. Regulus and Walburga both thought so too, that´s why neither of them said anything when Orion aimed his wand at Sirius and yelled; "crucio."

Sirius fell backwards on the chair, but that was the least of his troubles. Pain, as he had never felt it before, rushed over him like a wave of knives, he didn´t know what to do with his body. But he screamed, the boy screamed louder than he had ever screamed before, the pain was too much, and it was everywhere.

He felt like it would never end, Sirius wanted to die. It sounded extreme, but the pain was so overwhelming that he couldn´t see any other solution, and if he was able to speak. He would have begged his father to do so.

When it stopped, Sirius became way too aware of his body. His whole body felt like he had just run a hundred miles. Sirius couldn´t move, he couldn´t see because there were tears in his eyes, his hands were around his head, and he was curled up to a little ball.

"Go to your room filthy blood traitor" Orion hissed. Sirius used the last part of his willpower to raise himself from the floor, it felt like the hardest task he had ever been asked to do. He didn´t even look back when he walked out of the kitchen, having no extra power to do so.

Sirius dragged himself up all the stairs, tears streamed down his face, he couldn´t even bother to hold them back. He wanted to vomit most out of all things. Sirius breathed harshly, he had a lump in his throat.

When he was finally in his room, Sirius laid down and began crying. He had never cried before, not like this, not because of anything his parents had ever done.

But Sirius isn´t stupid, he knew exactly what kind of curse his father had put on him.

Unforgivable.

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

No one visited him the rest of the time he was there. Sirius lived on the enchanted glass, though water didn´t feel enough. His stomach begged for food all the time, he could barely sleep at night because of it. Sirius didn´t bother to beg for forgiveness, he knew he wouldn´t get it. And he didn´t even want it, they should be the ones to beg for forgiveness, Sirius had only tried to help them, educate them, but they wouldn´t even listen to him.

One day someone opened the door, Sirius knew it was time for him to get to Hogwarts, he hid the glass and placed the light-ball in his already packed trunk. Sirius took on his school uniform, how should he explain how thin he is to James? He saw Regulus on his way out, but didn´t even look at him. The boy he called his brother had done nothing to defend him when it mattered. James had defended him even when it didn´t matter.

He didn´t look back as he walked away from Grimmauld place.

The boy had no idea how he should get to kings' cross station, or to platform 9 ¾ from there, every time he had been there, his parents had just apparated him.

It was cold, and there was a lot of people around. Sirius decided to ask one of them.

"Excuse me sir" he tried, but there almost didn´t come any sound out. Having not used his voice in more than a week, it had become weak. Though he couldn´t give up, what would happen if he missed the train? Sirius did _not_ want to go back.

"Excuse me ma'am" he tried again at a woman, she had long brown hair, a long purple jacket and matching hat. Her eyes were shining blue, or maybe they just stood out more because of her dark hair.

Luckily, she stopped and looked at him. "Yes?" she asked politely.

"Do you know how I get to kings´ cross station from here?" he asked as innocent as he could.

She looked around, then looked at Sirius again. "Where are your parents?" she asked and squatted down to be in eye level, she had her hand on his one arm.

Sirius bit his lip. Yes, exactly were where the only people in life who should love him unconditionally and help him through everything no matter what?

"Oh, honey don´t cry" she wiped away a tear and smiled heartening. "I´ll help you get to kings´ cross, it´s on the way I´m going, here let me take your trunk" she took the trunk from Sirius and had her other hand on his back, they walked quietly to kings´ cross.

Though Sirius noted exactly where they were going, who knows if he ever has to walk the same way again and if she was some creep -which he didn´t think- he could just hex her.

It turns out he had no reason to worry. When they arrived at kings´ cross she looked directly into his eyes. "Are you gonna be okay? I can stay here if you want" she offered.

Sirius shook his head. "It´s okay, thank you, ma'am."

She smiled, but her eyes were worried. "If you ever need help, just…" she took out a thing from her pocket Sirius had never seen before and began to scribble something down a piece of parchment, it seemed as if the thing worked just like a quill, but the ink was inside of the... thing. "Call me on this number, or come to my place, okay?"

He had no idea what 'calling' was, but assumed it was a muggle thing. Though he thanked her nevertheless and walked into the station. Apparently, what his parents had told about muggles were a lie, what else have they lied about?

Sirius walked all the way over to platform nine and ten. He looked at it for a while and hoped to figure out how to get through, was he supposed to use his wand? No, that wouldn´t make sense, the muggle would just notice.

Suddenly there was a person behind him. "Hogwarts?" she asked. Sirius nodded, he recognized her as the prefect who had followed him to the common room in his first night at Hogwarts. "You just have to walk through the wall."

He saw no other option, therefore, he just made a go and walked through the barrier. He was then on the other side of the platform, everything seemed normal. Most people seemed happy to him, at least they were all happier than him.

Before he knew it, someone had their arms around him. James. He leaned into the hug, but couldn´t move his arms to embrace him as well. James ended the hug but still held on to Sirius´ shoulders, he studied Sirius´ face. His eyes were filled with worry and his smile faltered.

"Sirius," are you alright?" he asked worried, Sirius almost lost it again. How come it be that his friend is more concerned about him than his family?

Instead of losing it he cleared his throat and answered; "Yeah, yeah, of course" his voice still sounded weak. "It´s good to see you again" he added truthfully.

"It´s good to see you too" James murmured. He didn´t remove his eyes from his friend. Sirius saw other students boarding the train, though he didn´t care too much because James pulled him in for another hug. "My trunk is in the last compartment," he said as they pulled apart again. "I´m gonna say goodbye to my mom, then I´ll see you there?"

Sirius nodded slowly and walked towards the train, there were many empty compartments, the train didn´t leave before another ten minutes, everyone would use as much time with their loved ones before they left as possible. James catches up on him before he reached the end.

He was glad that James didn´t say anything at first, he couldn´t bother to answer any questions at the moment. Though it was short-lived, as soon as they were in the compartment. James began asking questions.

"Sirius are you alright? What happened?" his voice was filled with worry.

But instead of answering and coming out to the only person who really cared about him, Sirius sat down and hid his face in his knees, he hugged his legs. What wouldn´t James think if he knew what had happened to him? He couldn´t lose James, he just couldn´t.

This just made James even more worried. "Sirius…" he said helplessly and put a hand on his back.

Sirius shook his head; a tear fell unknowingly to James. They sat still like that for a while, the train began driving. James then put his arms around him. Sirius swear he could fall asleep to the nice feeling of finally having James back, and feeling his arms around him.

After a while, James let go but still had a hand on his back. "Do you wanna talk about it?" he asked gently and quietly. Sirius shook his head again, he couldn´t lose James because of his family. "Please, Sirius, I just wanna help" Sirius tightened his grip around himself.

James tried to talk to Sirius the whole rest of the trip, with no luck. Sirius only looked up when James bought some treacle tart for him from the trolley, he ate it slowly and enjoyed every bit of it.

When they arrived at Hogsmeade Station, they left their trunks on the train, there were some horse-less carriages, that brought them up to the school, all the students went straight for dinner in the hall.

Sirius ate as if he had never seen food before, James seemed happy about this though, he thought it meant that Sirius was better, though he was very wrong. Sirius was still feeling pretty bad, he didn´t know what to tell James. How could he say what had happened without James… whatever he would think? Sirius didn´t even dare to think about it.

When they were in the dorm again, Sirius sat down on his bed. Still refusing to talk. James sat down next to him, Lupin was also in the dorm unpacking his trunk, he looked extremely exhausted. "Sirius please let me help…" he whispered so that Lupin wouldn´t be able to hear. Sirius only shook his head again. James´ family was perfect, they hugged and smiled at each other, he would never understand.

"Can´t we just play exploding snap in the common room or something?" he begged as quiet as he could.

"I don´t want to" Sirius mumbled. He stood between wanting to admit everything to James and being too afraid to do so.

James put his arms around Sirius and mumbled into his ear; "I will send an owl, then I´ll come back, okay?"

Sirius nodded, and James left the dorm. He had honestly never felt more alone, not even through his punishment. James hadn´t left him there. He knew it was stupid, James was just sending an owl, he would be back in no time.

"What are you upset about?"

 **/Sheiz, this is 2k words longer than usual, hope you enjoyed every bit of it.**

 **Like, comment and all. Happy Christmas/**


	21. A new home

**Yay I posted them all before Christmas, it didn´t feel right any other way…**

 **I posted only yesterday, now this really** _ **has**_ **to be my personal record**

 **Follow my Instagram thank you very much; halfravenhalfclaw**

 **I can't believe we hit 20 chapters, and it hasn´t even been half a year in their world**

 **DISCLAIMER JK owes it, I think you already know, but whatever.**

 **Last time: Sirius 'celebrate' Christmas with his family, he is starved most of his time at Grimmauld place. The break is finally over but he is afraid to talk about his problems with James.**

… **. …. …. …. …. …. ….**

 **A new home**

The train stopped, the boys decided the wait a bit to avoid all the crowding, mostly Remus but Peter didn´t mind. Remus didn´t want to be at the crowded platform, he hated many people and loud noises. When they had waited five minutes, Remus and Peter had to leave the train

There weren´t many people left on the platform. Lily Evans was busy informing her parents all about Hogwarts, another girl stood grumpily next to them. Remus followed Peter to two people waiting for him, they were both waving.

The woman who was probably his mother weren´t very tall, she had dark brown hair and blue eyes, she was kind of chubby like Peter. The other one who was probably his sister had light hair like Peter, and blue eyes as well, she had the most beautiful curls Remus had ever seen. Despite it being December, they were both a bit tanned.

"Hi" Peter greeted.

His little sister took one look at Remus and quickly exclaimed; "you are _so_ small."

They both also had a weird scent to them, just like Black on their first day, though not as strong. Peter´s mom sends her a stern look, the turned to Peter again. "How was Hogwarts?"

"Good," Peter told, "this is my friend Remus Lupin" he quickly added. Remus sensed something almost proud in his voice.

"Hi, it´s nice to meet you" Remus greeted and raised his hand to shake it. Peter´s mom took it and smiled.

"I´m Gisele. Where are your parents?"

"Uhh…" Remus looked around the platform, they were the only ones left, it was strangely quiet. "My mom is probably at home… and my dad should be here any minute" he tried to not sound worried, but was actually a bit, why wasn´t he here yet?

"Do you want us to wait with you?" Peter asked seriously and a little bit worried.

Remus instantly turned a little bit happier, it was so nice that Peter cared so much for him. "It´s okay, he will be here any minute, but thanks" Peter seemed to study Remus´ face. "I´m fine" he added.

Peter pulled Remus in for their first hug, it was such a nice feeling and Remus happily returned it. It didn´t last long, but Remus was glad they were on hugging-level. "Owl me when you´re home," Peter said as they had pulled apart.

"Of course," Remus replied.

Peter, his little sister and mom went through the barrier, just a moment before Peter walked through, he looked back and waved to Remus, who waved back. Peter had a little smile on his face as he walked into the wall.

Remus sat his trunk down next to a wall, he opened it to find a book, he then sat on his trunk and waited patiently for his dad. The little boy waited for many hours, he even finished his book, then he just sat and stared into the air. Where was his dad?

He found another book in his trunk, and almost finished that one too. Remus became really tired, but he shouldn´t sleep here, his dad should be here any minute.

His butt had begun to hurt from sitting down for so long, but he was too tired to begin walking around. Then finally someone walked through the barrier.

"Remus?" the voice asked, he recognized the voice and smell, it belongs to his dad.

"Here" Remus called and raised himself from the ground. He felt like he could fall asleep anywhere right now, and he was hungry as a wolf. Pun fully intended.

Lyall smiled when he saw his son. "Hi, I´m sorry I first come now, there has been some… difficulties, and uhh, we have moved" Remus stared shocked at his father. "I know, I know, we also moved last summer, but… I´ll tell you when you are older, right now…" he motioned towards the barrier.

Remus sighed and grabbed his trunk. He hated to move. He had never really had a place that was their place, they moved so often and Remus couldn´t even remember all the houses. On the other side of the platform, they took a train.

"You will like the house" Lyall promised. "There is a big room, your room, and it got a nice view of the sunset, the garden is big, and right next to a forest, there is a lake, and our neighbours say that they swim in it every summer."

"Hmm."

"There is also a solid basement, for you, the house has two floors, the living room, your room and our room are upstairs. The bathroom has a bathtub, there is a room downstairs, that we made into a nurse-room, it´s also where the kitchen is. You know, downstairs."

"Hmm."

Lyall sighed. "I´m really sorry Remus, but this will be the last time."

"That´s what you said last time too" he mumbled.

"I´m sorry Remus," Lyall said again, he didn´t know what else to say. There almost weren´t any people in the train, it was probably way past midnight, his stomach began to growl. "Oh right," Lyall said and found a chocolate bar in his jacket, he gave it to Remus. "Mom has made dinner when we come home" he offered.

Remus bit his lip, he was being unfair, it wasn´t his dad´s fault that they had to move all the time. It was his own. And plus, the house didn´t sound so bad. "Are there any kids my age?" he asked finally.

Lyall smiled. "Our neighbour has two boys, the one is twelve and the other is ten, it´s them who bath in the lake every summer, but don't worry, their mom wants them to have a t-shirt on because of the sun, so you can too."

He nodded.

"I think there are other kids too, but I haven´t had the time to talk with other neighbours yet, though it sounds as if they are all very nice. And the house is not far from a train station, so it will be easy to get to Hogwarts."

"It sounds great dad" he agreed.

Lyall smiled, he really was lucky with his son. Not many others would understand the situation and be helpful, this was hard for Lyall too. "Oh, and I forgot to ask, how is Hogwarts?"

Remus smiled, see this was something he could talk about forever. "I love it, though I hate when everyone is in the great hall at the same time, it´s very noisy. The teachers are really cool, our defence against the dark arts professor works for stopping discrimination against werewolves, she is really cool and has helped me a lot. And I got a really nice friend, his name is Peter Pettigrew, he asked if I could hang out some day during the holiday… can I?"

"Of course. We got a man from the ministry coming tomorrow to connect our fireplace to the floo network, so after that it´s great. Is he Gryffindor too?"

"Yeah."

"Have you… considered… telling him?" Lyall asked carefully.

"No" Remus exclaimed. "He would just hate me" he suddenly turned sad.

"You can´t know that" Lyall comforted. "Your defence against the dark arts professor doesn´t hate you, and she knows."

Remus crossed his arms. "It´s different!"

Lyall was about to answer when the train stopped, he took a look at his son´s stubborn face, then sighed. "Anyone who loves you will be able to see past it" he promised. "Come, we have to get off the train."

They both left, Lyall took the trunk and showed Remus the way to the house. All the houses on the street looked fine, so Remus wasn´t so worried about the house. That was until he saw it.

His dad suddenly turned and walked up to a house. It looked like anything but steady, Remus even spotted a few holes in the roof. Several windows were broken and the front door didn´t even look like a door. The garden was big that was true enough, but there was growing all sorts of plants and the grass was at least twenty inches long.

It looked nothing like home.

"Coming Remus?" his dad asked enthusiastically.

"Dad… what in Merlin´s name is that even?!" he gestured to the house.

Lyall sighed and bit his lip. "It was the only thing we had the money to… but I know a guy who can fix it in no time, he will come in a couple of days."

"A couple of _days_?"

"Come on Remus… please just try and make it feel like home. Please" his dad begged.

He stared helplessly at the house, then sighed. "Fine, fine… I´ll try."

Lyall smiled again. "You are the best, come one, I´ll show you your room."

The house looked even worse from the inside if that was even possible. The walls were dark and mouldy, the tapestry was coming off almost everywhere, there weren´t even any lamps in the house. Everything had a weird scent that Remus felt sick of.

The nurse room wasn´t exactly what you would call healthy, it looked even worse than the rest of the house. The floor in the kitchen was the dirtiest thing Remus had ever seen. And he hadn´t even begun on the walls. Their bathroom smelled like someone had been throwing a hundred dungbombs in there.

Remus did not like it at all.

Especially not the stairs, they seemed like the most unstable thing in the entire world. His parent´s room wasn´t that small, it was bigger than their old one at least, the living room only seemed empty, and there were big spider webs in the corners. Remus´ room didn´t even have tapestry at all, it was big alright, but the window was really small. The only thing in there was a mattress and a blanket.

"It´s going to be great, Remus, don´t worry."

He had a really hard time believing them.

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

Remus really looked forward to getting away from the house, he had liked their old house really much, and this didn´t really speak to him. At first it didn´t seem friendly in any way, and secondly, he hadn´t even had time to say goodbye to the old one. He loved his parents but hated the house. He hated that they had to move all the time, so getting to Peter´s place and forgetting it all for a bit seemed very nice.

He cast the floo powder into the fireplace and then stepped in while saying; "Acacia drive 260" he felt the familiar sensation of travelling with the floo network, Remus remembered to close his eyes and hold his elbows close into his body.

In a few seconds, he was on the other side and coughing. Floo wasn´t really his favourite way of travelling, but it was the fastest way he could. Remus landed in a living room, the walls were white, and the floor was made of tree. The ceiling was far up, it gave the room some more space, but on the other hand, there was a two-meter-tall Christmas tree. Three girls were sitting on the floor and played with their toys, they all just looked at him.

"It´s the small guy I told you about" one of them exclaimed, Remus recognized her as the girl from the platform.

"Oh, hi Remus," a voice said from the other side, it was Peter´s mom; Gisele. Remus quickly raised himself from the floor.

"Hi," he greeted.

She smiled a bit and then removed the dirt on his clothes with her wand. "By the way, this is Taliyah, Florence and Leena."

The first girl, Taliyah, had the same hair colour as the others, though her eyebrows were really thick and dark, she had freckles painted on her face, and was about as pale as a ghost, she was a bit chubby and almost had a double chin.

Florence had extremely long hair, she was the thinnest of all of them, Florence was the only one who didn´t stare rudely at him, she looked a lot like Leena, though wasn´t as tanned as her. Leena was the girl Remus had seen on the platform.

"Peter is in his room, come with me," Gisele said, Remus quickly followed her. There wasn´t a door between the living room and kitchen which was the next room he entered. There were three different doors in there, though Gisele walked past all of it. They came past another four doors and finally walked out of the fifth. They came all the way to the garage, and then Gisele opened the door to Peter´s room. "Remus is here" she announced.

Remus walked in and closed the door behind him. Peter´s room was a rectangle, there was a door to outside in front of the normal door, and a window in the opposite end. There even was a disco ball in his ceiling. It was very messy.

"Hi Remus" Peter exclaimed happily and raised himself from his bed.

"Hi" Remus greeted. He took out a present and showed it to Peter. "Your present" he explained.

"Thanks" Peter sat it on his desk, and also found a present in his wardrobe, and placed it on the desk as well. "Yours," he said.

Both boys sat down on the bed, there was an awkward silence for a bit. "Uhh… how are you doing?" Peter asked after too much awkward silence for the both of them.

Remus bit his lip and eyed Peter. He sighed, why shouldn´t he tell? "Honestly? Not the best, we moved again."

"Again?"

"We did so last summer too" he explained. "And lots of times before that, I´m really tired of it."

"Oh," Peter said. "I have moved before too, but I have lived here since I was seven. Is it a nice house at least?"

He snorted. "You won´t believe how crappy it is. Though luckily, we will be back at Hogwarts soon, then they will hopefully fix it all before I come back…"

Peter nodded. "I´m sure they will. But why did you move so suddenly? Shouldn´t your mother rest more?" he asked concerned.

Remus shrugged his shoulders. "My dad said they will tell me when I´m older…" he didn´t really believe that they would, they would probably forget about it, or they will move again and then it doesn´t matter. "What about you?"

"Hm, could be worse" Peter stated.

"I think it always can."

They decided to play wizards chess, Peter was surprisingly good, he had apparently learned a lot from his mom who got the third place in the Great Britain chess competition, in muggle chess.

"So… all those girls in the living room, are they your sisters?" Remus asked when Peter had slain his queen for the second time in two games.

Peter thought a little. "No" he then answered.

"Oh," Remus said confused. "Who are they then?"

"Well, Taliyah, Leena and Chili are my half-sisters, and Florence is my step sister."

Remus widened his eyes. "There´s four of them? Merlin, I don't even have one."

Peter made a frown. "Lucky" he stated.

"How 'lucky'? at least you have someone to hang out with all the time" Remus had often wished for siblings, it was hard for him to get friends, so having a sister or brother would be excellent.

"At least you don´t have a Kayson."

He looked confused. "Kayson? Who is that?" Remus sensed that Peter didn´t really want to talk about it, cause he continued to drag the time out before he answered.

"My mom´s boyfriend" Peter replied. "He is the father to Florence and Chili, a guy named Marko is the father to Taliyah and Leena. My mom is the mother to Taliyah, Leena and Chili" he explained. It made things less confusing for Remus, though one question wasn´t answered.

"What about… your… dad?" Remus asked carefully.

Peter huffed and gave a wry smile.

"He is dead."

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

His parents insisted that they celebrated Christmas at their new house because 'they had to make it feel like home', they probably should, but Remus didn´t want to. he would rather spend it with some relatives, even his muggle relatives.

It looked a lot nicer than when he had seen it the first time, but he still hated it. His parents could clearly see that he did not enjoy it but tried to get the best out of it.

Peter had given him chocolate frogs and a bag of Bertie Botts every flavoured beans, and he had given some muggle sweets such as candy canes, he found some funny brown ones.

His parents gave him a new copy of 'Hogwarts; a history'.

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

The full moon took place a couple of days before they had to go back to school, so Remus floo'ed there. Though as soon as he laid on the floor in the hospital wing, Remus had regretted doing so, he always got sick travelling with floo, and around the full moon, it was just worse.

Madam Pomfrey came. "Bucket" he pleaded, she immediately understood and quickly found a bucket for him to vomit in. His stomach felt empty after.

"Are you alright?" she asked, he nodded. "I´ll have someone get the trunk to your dorm, come, we have to get you to the shack" she helped him stand up and directed him to the shrieking shack where he had to do his transformation.

First, they had to go past the whomping willow and walked down a secret tunnel, then he was led to the bedroom on the first floor, where Madam Pomfrey left him.

Remus took off all his clothes and placed them in the wardrobe as he would usually do. Then waited under the duvet, he almost managed to fall asleep before the full moon came and forced his body the become a wolf. He screamed and screamed turned to howls quickly, though it never felt quick.

A wolf was in the bedroom where Remus had just been.

 _Wolf hungry. Wolf food. No food. Wolf hungry_.

As always, the wolf scratches itself, not caring about all the pain, only caring about the freedom it could never get.

 _Wolf out. Wolf run._

Desperately the wolf began to scratch the door and walls.

 _Wolf out_.

Remus woke up in the hospital wing with a ginormous headache, he groaned and touched his head, which only made it worse. Madam Pomfrey quickly came and gave him some chocolate and a potion for the headache.

He wasn´t released before all the other students came back. Remus ate dinner in the hospital wing that day, he spotted Peter in the great hall, sitting with Frank Longbottom and others. Remus was too tired to do anything about it, so he just walked to the dorm, he hadn´t unpacked yet.

Remus was delighted to find that no one was in there, though it was short lived as Black and Potter came not long after. Black sat down on his bed and Potter sat next to him. Neither of them was in a very good mood, and Remus noticed that Black had smelled darker than the first day they had met.

"Sirius please let me help..." Potter whispered though Remus had no trouble hearing it. Black didn´t answer him. "Can't we just play exploding snap in the common room or something?" he begged as quiet as he could.

"I don't want to" Black mumbled.

Potter put his arms around Black and mumbled into his ear; "I will send an owl, then I'll come back, okay?" Black must have nodded or something because Potter grabbed a quill, a piece of parchment and left the dorm.

Remus couldn´t control himself, he hated to see people sad.

"What are you upset about?" he asked without looking at Black.

Black raised his head suddenly and asked with an annoyed tone; "Why do you care?"

"I don´t" Remus lied. "But you look sad, and maybe you want to talk with someone who isn´t your friend" he turned around. "Is there?" he asked carefully.

To his surprise, Black actually answered. "It´s just some family problems" he mumbled.

"Ahh I know about that" he confessed thinking about their new house.

Black looked up in surprise. "You do?" he suddenly seemed interested.

"Well…" Remus dragged out the 'e'. "I have a family, who has problems, with my mom being sick and all… but I assume that´s not the kind you have?"

He shook his head.

There was a long silence, Black looked down again and seemed to ignore Remus. His mind raced to think of something that could make Black happy again. His gaze caught a book and suddenly Remus knew exactly what to do.

"I found this spell… it would be good for a prank, but I can't cast it, maybe you can?" Remus suggested.

Black raised himself from his bed and walked towards Remus, though he stopped in the middle of the room. Hesitantly. "What kind of spell?"

"Sticking charm, not the permanent kind, so it´s a bit easier" Remus took the book and showed it to Black who walked over there so they stood next to each other. Remus felt a bit weird standing this close to Black, usually, he would cast spells from distance.

"Yeah, yeah I think I can…" he said when he had read it. "What was your plan?"

"I happen to be exceptionally good at the levitation charm… so I thought maybe we can levitate stuff, so it touches the ceiling, then you can use the sticking charm to make it stuck there" Remus suggested.

Black got a wicked grin on his face. "Come on" he exclaimed and walked towards Potter´s trunk. "We can unpack for him."

The two boys levitated practically his whole trunk to the ceiling, even some of his underwear with small snitches on them. They laughingly waited for Potter to return on Remus´ bed. Black turned serious for a moment.

"I´m sorry that James and I have been so mean to you. You are cool" he said while glaring rather much at his hands.

"I´m sorry too" Remus admitted, they might have started it, but he hadn´t been very kind himself.

Black smiled, and then the door to their dorm opened. The look on Potter´s face was priceless, first, it was really weird for him to see those exact boys on the same bed as if they were friends, but then he noticed all his clothes and even underwear that was stuck in the ceiling. His face turned completely red.

Black roared with laughter while Remus gave a more relaxed laugh. Though it only got better when Peter entered the dorm too, he had the same expression as Potter had had when he saw Remus and Black on the same bed. He then saw the underwear in the ceiling and decided he wouldn´t deal with it, he sat down next to the others and they all laughed at Potter who tried to get his stuff down.

Suddenly he laid down on Remus´ bed, his face was still red, but it could be from all the jumping. "Looks like someone needs to cool off" Peter laughed.

Potter send him a daring look. "Snowball fight on the grounds?" he asked all of them, which they agreed on.

All four boys quickly put on robes, gloves and hats for the cold weather, luckily there were lots of snow. Before they walked out, Potter grabbed Remus´ arm and stopped him. Black and Peter didn´t notice, they just continued to walk.

Potter waited a few seconds before he began talking. "Thank you… for making him feel better."

"That was nothing. It seemed as if he needed it" Remus said a bit awkwardly, the only time they had been talking alone was in the defence against the dark arts class where Remus had helped him with the body-binding curse.

"I know, he wouldn´t talk to me the whole trip up here. You are truly amazing" Potter stated, and Remus blushed slightly. "I think it´s about his family."

"He mentioned that" Remus confessed.

"But hey, that´s what friends are for am I right?"

"Are we-" Remus began shocked, but Potter cut him off.

"I mean, if you want to" he offered humbly.

Remus smiled. "I would very much like that."

 **/Nurgh they are finally friends, 1k words longer than usual, watch out guys, it's getting wild.**

 **Mind giving me your opinion? /**


	22. The very beginning

**This fits better for new year? But I didn´t want to wait that long.**

 **My neck hurts really bad, it's annoying.**

 **I used like five minutes to come up with a title only to find out I already had.**

 **DISCLAIMER as always JK Rowling owes characters, but that surely doesn't come as a surprise**

 **Last time: Remus moved again, to a crappy house too. His parents try to make the best out of it, but Remus hates it anyways. He visits Peter, they play chess. Remus, Peter, Sirius and James become friends.**

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

 **The very beginning**

Remus and James walked down from the dorm to the common room, Peter and Sirius were waiting for them in front of the portrait hole. All the Gryffindors were noisy, they loudly talked about their holiday, Remus couldn´t wait to get out.

"Finally," Sirius said and rolled his eyes. "What took you so long?"

"Excuse me" James bent his right wrist and placed it on his chest. "But someone here actually cares about how their hair looks."

Peter and Remus laughed, Sirius rolled his eyes. " _Come_ on" he exclaimed. "I can´t wait any longer" he took both Peter´s and Remus´ hands and dragged them out of the portrait hole, all of them laughed.

James followed quickly behind, also laughing. "What about me?"

Sirius had let go of the other guys again, he turned around. "Sorry can´t hear you, I´m already down snow fighting" he shrugged his shoulders and grinned.

"Oh don´t worry" Peter put a comforting hand on James´ shoulder. "I´m sure the dead rats still want to be with you" he offered laughing.

James crossed his arms, but it was hard to miss the little smile on his lips. "Last person down there is a flubberworm" he yelled and began running down all the stairs.

Sirius quickly catches up on him, though it was Remus who came first of all of them, to their surprise. To no one's surprise, Peter was the last one. All the boys were sweating from running and from having all that warm clothes on. They quickly decided to go outside.

"Dang you are fast Lu-Remus," James said still panting.

Snow was falling, and the cold air hit their sweaty faces, the snow was untouched. It all looked like a beautiful painting someone had spent hours upon hours on painting, it would soon be ruined by two eleven-year-old boys and two twelve-year-old boys.

"So," Sirius said breaking the silence. "What is a 'snow ball fight' exactly?" he asked unashamed, earning three surprised looks from the fellow boys.

"You don't know what a snow ball fight is?" Peter asked.

"How can you not know?" James asked right after. Remus didn´t say anything, yes, he knew what it was, but he hadn´t tried it before and felt a bit bad for Sirius. Sirius, it was weird to say that instead of Black.

Sirius simply snorted. "As if you have memorized every single spell in the standard book of spells, Grade 1. Like me" he fired back.

James laughed and shook his head. "That was really the worst comeback ever."

"But it's true" Sirius laughed. "No really what is it? Mother and father valued education over fun most of my life, how do you play?"

Remus took up the task to explain it. "You take a handful of snow," he said as he took some up and began forming the ball." Then you make a ball, like this, and throw it" Remus threw the ball at Sirius, but he missed. All the other boys began roaring with laughter while Remus blushed, which went unnoticed as all their faces were red by the cold.

"And you also have to hit" James laughed and threw a ball at Sirius, this one hit him right on his nose. Sirius made a surprised look and quickly made a snow ball to throw it at James, but the other boy had been running away, just like Remus and Peter.

Peter was the one who was closest, so Sirius aimed and hit his leg. He let out a triumphant cheer but got hit on the back of his head by James a second after. When he turned around, he got another one. While that happened Remus sneaked up on James, and threw from behind, this time he actually hit.

James turned around to see where the snow ball came from and got hit by another two, one from Remus on the front and Sirius on the back. Peter had made a lot of balls and started to throw at all of them, though James ran towards him while getting a few balls from behind too. He stole some of Peter´s balls and began throwing them at him too.

Sirius ran over there as well, Remus just behind he threw a ball towards James who was now on top of Peter, both laughing hysterically. Sirius threw himself on top of them as well, while Remus stood beside and laughed at all of them. He could still feel the moon and didn´t want to get hurt.

Though it was short-lived. While laughing Sirius noticed that Remus wasn´t in the pile. "Come on Lu-Remus" he said between laughs. Remus simply shook his head, so Sirius made a go for it and attacked Remus instead. It was all fun until Remus exclaimed really loud that it hurt.

Quickly Sirius moved away, James and Peter who was about to attack him as well stopped suddenly. Sirius looked guilty. "Oh no, I´m so sorry, I didn´t mean to" he quickly stated, but he meant it. They had just become friends… they were friends, right? Anyways, of course, he didn´t mean to hurt him.

"It´s okay" Remus assured, Sirius still looked a bit guilty. There had become a bit of awkward silence, though, of course, James knew exactly what to do.

"Do you need to get to the hospital wing?" he asked seriously, he had to make sure his new friend was okay.

"No, it´s fine" he assured again.

"Then…" he said dramatically and revealed his hand that had been on his back, he had a snowball in it. "…you won't mind this" he threw the ball at Remus, but was thoughtful enough to not hit his head, and instead aimed at his stomach.

The boys began laughing again. "Everyone on James" Sirius yelled. James sprinted away with three boys quickly following behind. Remus was now too exhausted to keep up, but Sirius did a pretty good job. He finally caught up and both boys laid down on the snow, happy and tired.

Not long after Peter and Remus were with them, Peter laid down as well, but Remus settled with sitting, if he laid down, maybe he wouldn´t be able to get up again.

They were close to the lake, from here you couldn´t see the castle, and no one in the castle would be able to see you. The sun had gone down long ago, but the light from the castle had been enough just right outside of it. Though now they were so long away that it had become almost pitch black.

Sirius actually didn´t mind it, they had all left their wands in the dorm, so they couldn´t turn any light on, but he was with good people, and that made him feel warm inside. From here you could also see the stars. And the moon, it had been full not long ago, but he had missed it because of the punishment.

Suddenly he pointed up. "That´s me," he said and pointed at the star shining the most.

Both Remus and Peter looked up, though James looked at Sirius and pointed. "I thought that was you" the other boy laughed shortly.

"We are friends now, aren´t we?" Peter asked after a long time of just looking at the stars. They all looked at each other.

"Yeah."

"Sure."

"Definitely."

"Great" Peter replied.

"By the way, you would make a great chaser, Po-James," Remus said, he had thought about his aim, the others were good, but James hit almost every time.

"Yeah?" James asked. "I hope so, I´m thinking of joining next year, I have a broom at home."

Peter answered. "I bet you could make Gryffindor beat Slytherin next time."

Sirius and Remus agreed on that, it boosted James´ confidence, usually, they wouldn´t have second years join seeing as all the other years were more experienced with flying. "I think Sirius would too, but he doesn't want to join the team because he is too big of a softy to play Quidditch" the other boy snorted loudly.

"What why not? You aren't bad at flying" Peter exclaimed surprised. He had seen both James and Sirius as those cool guys who was great at everything, and, of course, was on the Quidditch-team.

Sirius considered what he should tell. "My brother wants to join the team. I don't want to fight against him" he said quietly. James faced him, he had thought Sirius would come up with his usual excuse that he wasn´t a Quidditch player.

"You will only have to if he gets into another house" Peter pointed out.

"Exactly."

There was a little silence, Remus broke it. "Why are you so sure he won´t be Gryffindor?"

"He doesn't want to. Mother and father became really furious when I was sorted, they even send a howler. He said he would leave the school if he became a Gryffindor" he used the most bored tone he could.

James took Sirius´ hand. "We´ll be here for you" he promised. Peter and Remus moved to place their hands there as well. Sirius smiled. Getting other friends than James wasn´t so bad after all.

Everything became just a tad too sweet for the boys, so they withdrew their hands again with little smiles on their faces.

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

It was almost weird how natural it felt for the boys to be together, it was if they had known and been friends with each other for ages, and not less than a week.

"Come on guys" James yelled for the tenth time, Remus was already ready and tried to make Peter get done, he needed all the books for all the classes, Sirius had been dressed, but he had laid down on his bed again. James sat on him. "We aren´t gonna get breakfast before defence against the dark arts if you don´t start to move right away" he complained.

"Mm… five more minutes…" Sirius insisted.

All the boys had very much enjoyed each other's presence, except for Sirius and Peter in the mornings. It was easy to deal with one person who wanted to be on time, but now there is _two_ of them, it had become a morning nightmare.

"That´s it" James exclaimed. "I´m going."

"Me too" Remus agreed

Peter was finally ready too and hurried to follow them. When Sirius noticed he was alone in the dorm, he rolled around while yelling; "What for me!" unfortunately he rolled too far and ended up rolling out of the bed, which caused the other boys to laugh.

He quickly got up and began walking as if nothing had happened, Sirius walked right past the others. "Are you guys coming or what?" he said and speeded up. The other boys rolled their eyes and followed him.

They were alone in the corridor. "Okay guys, it´s prank time, I´m thinking big, we need glitter and unicorns" he exclaimed and smiled.

James was immediately on with the idea. "And don´t worry you two," James said to Peter and Remus. "We can show you how a prank is done."

Remus snorted and then earned a confused and half-offended look by James and Sirius, Peter explained. "We have done pranks too, you know the fart thing? That was us, or mostly Remus, but still."

"That was you?" they asked in unison, both equally surprised, Remus wasn´t really the typical prank type. Peter maybe, but Remus was far from that.

"Oh don´t act so surprised" he laughed and pointed his wand at a painting while saying a word he hadn´t said for a long time. "Canedum" he then touched it, causing a fart sound, which made the other boys laugh.

"Brilliant" Sirius exclaimed. "This is great, with all four of us, this is going to be the greatest prank yet" Sirius´ eyes were shining. He wouldn´t care even the slightest bit about what his parents would say, they didn´t deserve his thoughts. Not before they had asked to be forgiven, then he would maybe do it.

"The four of us?" Remus asked confused.

"Yeah, I know James can be a bit of a tosser, but he has some okay ideas from time to time" Sirius smirked and shrugged his shoulders while James hit him gently and laughed.

They all loved to have friends like this. Remus just loved to be with them, Peter was happy he didn´t have to be alone while Remus visited his mom, and he liked them all, Sirius needed extra people in his life right now, to get his thoughts off things, and then there had been some like with the flick of a wand, James just liked that they were all happy. He hadn´t forgotten what the hat had told him the day he had been sorted; " _Take care of them, will you? No matter what, will you? All of them._ "

This was probably the 'them' the hat had been talking about, James knew why Sirius needed help, then he just had to figure out the rest, to him they both seemed like two very happy boys, then again, so did Sirius.

"No, no, I mean; what makes you think I'll help?" Remus asked daringly.

James and Sirius were both stunned. "What do you mean you don't want to?" Peter asked also confused.

Remus turned to Peter. "Seeing as they are so surprised, why should I help? Clearly, they don´t believe I can make a good prank" he said but made sure they knew he was joking.

They were in the middle of the doorway to the great hall, and its now Sirius and James decided to go down on their knees and play overly dramatic. Both boys folded their hands around Remus´ hands, they had one each.

"Please" Sirius began.

"We´ll do anything" James continued.

They were blocking the door so various students were staring at them, Remus who wasn´t used to the attention, blushed a bit but tried to hide it, while James and Sirius shamelessly pleaded him to help come up with a prank. Without actually mentioning the word, it wouldn´t be cool if they got caught.

"Fine, fine, fine!" Remus exclaimed finally, James and Sirius made triumphant smiles while thanking Remus, and then quickly found a seat at the Gryffindor table.

"Is that really what we became friends with?" Peter asked Remus as they slowly walked towards the others.

"I guess so"

"I like it" he admitted. "They are very funny."

"They really are, though I miss when it´s quiet, it´s hard to study" Remus complained, he was behind, and even when it was only a little bit, he was afraid he would get even more behind. Peter couldn´t understand how his friend could spend _that_ much time thinking about studying, if he was like this now, how would it be when they had to take their owls?

"Don't worry, if you tell them, I´m sure they will be quiet" Peter calmed as they sat down.

"Who will be quiet?" James asked with his mouth full of egg, Sirius made a disgusted frown at his friend, but James was oblivious to this.

"You two, Remus won't help you with the prank if you won't be quiet when he studies " Peter answered casually.

Before James and Sirius could make any protests, Remus cut in. "I did _not_ say that… but it would be nice."

"Remus how can you think about studying at a time like this? We are about to make our very first prank together as friends" Sirius said heart-broken.

"I do not, I love pranks, but that doesn't change the fact that I like it quiet when I study. I´m getting behind."

"We will too, we can just catch up later," Sirius said matter of factly, he had thought of something for a little while. The only reason he used to study so hard was because of his parents, so he didn´t really know if he should care too much about it now, though he doesn´t want to be bad.

"Guess so" Remus mumbled.

James noticed the sad tone. "We can always do our homework first, it's more important anyway, and who knows, maybe we will find just the right spell or potion for a prank" he suggested.

"Yeah" Peter agreed. "If we don't do it, we will probably just get detention for that, and then we will have less time to plan the prank."

Sirius -who had caught on to what they were trying to- quit being discreet, and just put the cards on the table. "Sorry Remus, if you want to study first, we will study first. I didn´t mean to force you into doing something you didn´t want."

Remus smiled gratefully for the friends he had been granted. "It´s okay guys, really, if you promise we can use the whole Sunday to do it then.

The other boys of course promised.

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

Peter headed for the statue of Gregory the Smarmy, it had become their secret planning place because apparently, the dorm wasn´t good enough. When Peter had asked the question, James had replied 'because this place is much cooler' which is a pretty valid reason.

He made it there and clicked on the eyes of the statue, according to him it was really creepy, it was if the wizard were being mad at him for it. Three sets of eyes looked at him, Remus was reading in a book, Sirius put ingredients in a cauldron while James had cast Lumos. He sat down next to them and the statue closed behind him.

"How is it going?" he asked.

"Great, did you get the water?" James asked impatiently.

"No, I went all the way to the toilet to not get the water" Peter rolled his eyes, he was holding a glass in his hands. The potion suddenly turned red.

"Put the flubberworm hearts in… I think" Remus said unsurely.

"You think?" Sirius took the book and James moved his arm to make it possible for Sirius to see. He read it quickly. "Why didn´t you say I had to crush them?" he exclaimed and quickly got to it, the potion was beginning to bubble.

Remus looked bewildered at the book. "It doesn´t say anything about that."

"When the next ingredient is from a living creature, you always have to crush it," Sirius said as if it was obvious, he quickly put them in and the potion turned purple.

"Stir three times clockwise, then one the other way, and three times clockwise again" Remus quickly said. "Then it has to be still for a couple of minutes, before the salamander legs, stir it the same way as before and ready" he watched carefully as Sirius stirred the potion, and first spoke up when he was done. "I´m sorry I´m so dreadful at potions."

"Don´t be so harsh on yourself, no one can know that" James said. "And how do you know it?" he asked not at all surprised, Sirius knew many things no one else knew.

"A book, 'simple techniques; a beginners guide to brew your own potion' I got it at home, I don´t think I would have survived without it.

Peter frowned. "Why have I heard that before?"

Sirius bit his lip. "There was a big scandal with it a couple of years ago, someone was convinced the book was cursed, but they had no proof. Though then it turned out there was a secret page with very dark potions in it and was therefore banned."

"Then why do you have it at home?" Peter asked confused. He was sure he had heard about it somewhere else, maybe seen it on the bookshelf at home?

He shrugged his shoulders. "Mother and father don´t care too much about rules, and the ministry doesn´t want to confront them, they support with a lot of money. Father is convinced the ministry would fall apart if we didn´t help, therefore he can do pretty much whatever pleases him."

"That isn´t fair" Remus stated quietly, perhaps not for the others to hear. How come it be that Sirius´ father can have an illegal book at home, but Remus technically can't attend school? He crossed his arms.

"What´s wrong?" the other three boys asked at the same time.

Remus looked surprised at them, he had been caught up into his own world for a second. "Nothing" he shook his head. "The salamander legs need to be added now" the potion had become green, but when the legs were added it turned purple again. Sirius stirred and it stopped to bubble.

"It´s ready" Sirius announced. Peter used the pipette and took just a little bit of the potion, he carefully placed it in the glass with water, for a second, it looked as if nothing happened, but then the water turned purple and became slimy.

All the boys smiled wickedly, the potion had gone right.

 **/Yay friends forever guys. Review?** **Thanks, :D/**


	23. Nightmares

**Happy new year guys!**

 **I don´t know how much longer their first year is gonna last, but I don't know if I should just wrap it up all suddenly, we´ll see.**

 **If you have any ideas, I would love to hear them.**

 **DISCLAIMER JK owes it**

 **Last time: Four boys are having a snowball fight, they get to know each other better too. They have been friends for almost a week, so decides to come up with their first prank as friends.**

… **.. ….. ….. ….. ….. ….. …..**

 **Nightmares**

James, Remus and Peter were staring down at Sirius, and he had no idea why. They all looked worried and tired, it was the middle of the night after all, but Remus looked especially tired, he had trouble keeping his eyes open.

"Sirius are you alright?" James asked worried and Sirius moved his eyes towards him.

"Yeah? Why shouldn´t I be?" he asked confused, having midnight-parties wasn´t exactly something they did. Like at all.

"You were screaming," Peter told. "Really loud, it was if someone was torturing you or something.

All the memories came back to Sirius at once. A nightmare, it had been Christmas, the Christmas. His father he had… done that. His heart was aching, it had felt so real. Like he was there again. He laid down with a sigh. "It was just a nightmare" he mumbled. "I can´t even remember it now."

Remus desperately tried to stay awake, was Sirius lying or was Remus so tired he couldn´t tell? The full moon was tomorrow, or today it was now, he wanted nothing more than to just lay down and sleep, but if his friend needed him, sleep could wait.

"Are you sure? Do you need anything?" he asked and suppressed a yawn.

Sirius looked at him and bit his lip. "No, it´s okay, just go to sleep again," he said this more to Remus than any of the others as he was the one who looked most exhausted.

"Are you sure you don´t want to talk about it?" Peter asked again.

"It´s no trouble" James assured. They all looked like someone who was determined to stay with Sirius until he was feeling better.

"Remus go to sleep, you look like you haven´t slept in a week," he said suddenly causing Remus to shake his head furiously. If the others were there, he definitely wanted to be there too.

"Sirius is right, Remus, you look really tired," James said and looked at his friend, he had looked exhausted last night too when they were playing exploding snap in the common room, they had told him then to go to sleep, but he was too stubborn and refused. Peter understood him though, he wouldn´t want to sleep if the others were hanging out.

Remus shook his head again, this time slower. "S'okay" he assured, not being convincing as he yawned.

"Remus really, just go," Peter said.

He wanted nothing more than to do it, but he didn´t want to. "Not if Sirius needs us" he stated with his eyes half-closed.

"But I don't need any of you, everything is fine, it was just a nightmare" Sirius insisted. He could push away his own needs if it meant Remus would go to bed again. And he really didn´t need them right now, it was just a nightmare, he was safe at Hogwarts.

"Sure?" James asked. He wanted Remus to sleep too, but if Sirius also needed his help, he wanted to do that, what do you do when two friends both need your help, but you can´t help both of them?

"A hundred percent" Sirius smiled, though Remus didn´t see this as he had fallen asleep on Sirius´ bed, he was snoring lightly. Sirius reached his hand over to wake the boy up, but Peter caught his hand before he could.

"Don´t!" he warned.

"Why?" Sirius asked confused, Peter let go of his hand.

"The last time I tried to wake him up, I got a bloody nose," Peter said remembering the episode. "You should probably just move to his bed."

"Really?" Sirius asked and looked at Remus again, he was curled up into a tiny little ball. "He looks peaceful to me," he said with a shrug.

Peter sighed and raised his arms. "Don´t say I didn´t warn you."

Sirius couldn´t really guess if Peter was joking or not, nevertheless, he decided to try and wake Remus up. He reached for his shoulder and shook it gently, one second later a hand flew towards his face and slapped him.

"OUCH," he exclaimed. Remus lay just as peacefully as before, though Sirius had a red chin now. He quickly withdrew his hand and touched the place Remus had hit.

"Told you" Peter grinned.

"How can he be so strong when he is sleeping?" James asked surprised. "Your chin is still red Sirius."

"No idea" Peter stated.

Sirius gently took Remus´ arm and placed it where it was before, the other boys then took the part of the duvet he wasn´t laying on and put over him. He curled even more up but didn´t wake up, his mouth was closed, and his face looked tense.

"Why do you reckon he is so tired?" Sirius asked the others, they were in their beds again.

"Maybe he is going to visit his mom soon" Peter suggested. "He is always tired around that time."

"Why?" James asked with a frown.

"I think he is so worried that he can´t fall asleep, its pretty… she might die from it, so every time he goes visit, it might be the last…"

Sirius finally moved his eyes from him, it felt so incredibly sad. He turned off the light in the dorm and went to Remus´ bed. It smelled a lot like him and was still warm. Feeling warm and protected, Sirius slept peacefully the rest of the night.

Remus was very confused when he woke up in Sirius´ bed the next morning. He knew it wasn´t his own cause it smelled like Sirius. He tried to remember what had happened last night, but it was all just a blur, the tiny boy slowly raised himself and sat up. He was more tired than usual, James and Sirius liked to use a lot of energy all the time.

The curtains were open, so Remus could see the other boys. James and Sirius were already awake and reading a book on James´ bed, they had agreed on making Sunday to 'study Sunday' because that was the only way Remus would help them with pranks, he didn´t want to get behind in anything. Peter wasn´t in his bed, but he could hear the shower was on so assumed he must be in there.

When James saw Remus was awake, he quickly exclaimed: "Morning sleepyhead, how has the night been?"

"M'good" he yawned and stretched. "Sirius why am I in your bed?" he asked sleepily.

"You fell asleep there last night after my nightmare, I tried to wake you up, but you slapped me here" Sirius pointed at his cheek.

Remus instantly felt a clench in his stomach. "Oh no, I´m so sorry Sirius I didn´t mean to-"

"It´s okay Remus, I can´t feel it anymore, and you were sleeping, Peter even warned me," he said as if it didn´t matter. Cause it didn´t matter that much to him, of course, he had sort of freaked out because his friend had slapped him, friends don´t do that, and it reminded him of his parents. Though he kept telling himself that it didn´t matter, Remus had been asleep. And actually, he felt so much better now that Remus had apologized, it just confirmed that he didn´t mean it.

Though the other boy still looked sorry, he didn´t want to mess up having friends. "Remus really, it didn´t even hurt" Sirius lied, Remus didn´t seem to be convinced though.

"Have you by any chance dreamt about how we are gonna get water into the great hall?" James asked suddenly to break the tense atmosphere, he hated to see Remus feel bad for something that wasn´t his fault. If it had been anyone´s -which he didn´t think- it was Sirius´ own, Peter had warned him after all.

Remus shook his head. "Our best shot is still the water-making-spell, but it´s way too hard for any of us to do."

"And even if we did manage, we won't be able to keep the water in the hall" Sirius added. Pranks would be so much easier if they were in seventh year, at that time, they will probably be able to make the best pranks the school has ever seen.

"I have been thinking about something," Peter said as he left the bathroom, he was dressed in a casual jumper and pants. Remus noticed he was the only one who was still wearing a pyjama. "We don´t necessarily have to get it in the great hall, we could also get it in the black lake, or in the water system. Both times me and Remus did it, it wasn´t in the great hall, that way it's also harder to get caught."

"Shower thoughts?" James joked.

"Exactly" Peter confirmed with a grin on his face.

"It´s Remus and I," Remus and Sirius said at the same time.

"What?" Peter asked confused while Remus and Sirius were grinning.

"It´s not me and Remus, it´s Remus and I" Sirius explained and rolled his eyes.

Impatiently James quickly exclaimed: "guys none of that matters" he raised himself dramatically from his bed and began walking. "Do you know what this means? We can do operation water-slime today" he exclaimed excitedly.

Sirius and Peter were immediately on it, they had been waiting too long with the prank, first with planning the potion, getting the ingredients, and then actually make the potion, all of that just for realizing that they didn´t know how to get water into the great hall. Remus on the other hands wasn´t on it.

"But it´s study-Sunday" he mumbled.

The smile faltered on all the boy's faces, Remus felt bad, but he had to get just a few things more done before he could miss classes for at least two days.

"Oh, please Remus, please" Sirius begged. "Please, we _have_ to do a prank now, I don´t know how much longer I´ll survive without it" Remus felt a clench in his stomach.

"You guys can just do it without me then" he offered.

"But we all made it together, you have to be there," Peter said helplessly. He knows how it is to feel left out and didn´t want Remus to feel that way.

"I know," James said. "What about we make next weekend a study weekend, both Saturday and Sunday?" he smiled and hoped that Remus would say yes, it´s their first prank together, so it´s important they all do it together.

"Yes!" Sirius exclaimed. "It´s perfect, please Remus, it won´t be as fun without you."

"Please, Remus" Peter begged as well.

Remus was shocked about how much they actually wanted him there, it would have been so easy for them to just say okay and go without him, yet they tried so hard to make him come. And maybe he should say yes, they had agreed on using the whole next weekend on studying, that would be plenty of time to catch up, and he wasn´t even that much behind right now.

"Okay" he agreed, the other boys cracked a smile. "But!" their smiles faltered a bit. "I want breakfast first" his stomach was growling.

The others laughed. "Remus, it´s almost lunchtime" James grinned.

"What?!" he looked out of the window, the sun was very high up. Remus hurried out of Sirius´ bed and towards his own to find some clothes, a grey jumper, pants and all the other stuff, then rushed to the bathroom. He felt a bit dizzy but tried to ignore it.

"Calm down Remus, it isn´t that bad" Sirius laughed from the other side of the door, while Remus turned on the shower and stepped in.

"Not that bad? I have slept through half the day" Remus exclaimed, he hated that the moon did this to him, making him tired and fall asleep when his friend needed him, and making him sleep this long. And the whole hurt-people-when-he-sleep thing, Remus didn´t even know what that was supposed to mean.

"Not half of it, only a bit of it" Peter comforted but had a hard time not laughing, he knew Remus would be like this.

"Too much of it" Remus yelled back. He stepped out of the shower and quickly dried himself before putting his clothes on. At least he wasn´t that tired right now, maybe he should sleep for as long as he could during the weekends, perhaps that would make him less tired. Though it also meant less time for homework, so he quickly abandoned the idea.

Feeling much better and fresher after the shower, Remus stepped out in the dorm again. His hair was still wet and dripped down his face and back, but the hunger was creeping in, and he needed food _now_. Sirius was hiding a vial with the potion in his pocket.

"I´m ready and hungry" he announced.

"Remus you can't wear that jumper, it has _Slytherin_ colours," James said and crossed his arms, even though it was quite obvious he was teasing, there was still something serious in his voice, and not Sirius serious. Cause that is the opposite of serious.

"It´s not… this is grey, not silver" Remus corrected him.

"I was joking, sorry Remus, it wasn´t funny" James looked sheepish and smelled nervous.

This was the moment Remus´ stomach decided to growl loudly, Sirius laughed and grabbed Remus´ hand. "Come on, we better get you some food" he dragged Remus down to the common room and out. Peter and James followed of course.

"Okay guys, where are we going to release the potion?" he asked only loud enough for the others to hear, though there weren´t many students walking around on a Sunday. They would rather use the day to just sleep, especially fifth and seventh years, they wanted to relax as much as possible before preparing for the exam.

"Do you think we can just do it in the sink? All the water connections are connected, right?" Peter suggested with a little frown on his face. He had thought about this too, but it was a tricky question.

"We should probably go for the source" James suggested. "The black lake."

"We can´t do that" Remus told, he felt like a party pooper. "It will hurt the creatures."

"What creatures?"

"Merpeople."

"Grindylows."

"The giant squid."

"Selkies."

Sirius helped Remus complete the list of creatures in the lake, he could only assume that Remus had read Hogwarts a history like him, by the look on his face, he had. James and Peter clearly hadn´t, otherwise, they would know. There is a whole chapter dedicated to the lake.

"You two are nerds" James stated and rolled his eyes. "Any chance you are clever enough to figure out what to do with the potion?"

"No," they said in unison.

They all got back to thinking, they had a perfect idea and a potion, now they just needed one idea more. "We can list the possibilities" James decided. "Then we can decide which one is best" there was no way he would give up now.

"Great" Sirius exclaimed already thinking of a few things.

The original plan was to fill the hall with water, just a little bit, four inches or something, then they would use the potion and all the water would turn into purple slime, which would make everyone fall, but they didn´t know how to get all that water into the hall, or how to keep it there.

A prankster runs into many problems.

They can´t put it into sinks, it would just prevent people from using that specific sink, neither a shower or bathtub. Then their only option was… of course, the toilet. Before James could say anything, Sirius came first.

"It would be cool if we could get it in the middle of all the pipes, then it could come around to everything" he suggested thoughtfully. "Any chance we can find a spell to make us go through walls?" he joked knowing that it was impossible.

"No… but a ghost can" Peter smiled mischievously.

"A ghost can also get us caught" Remus pointed out, feeling like a party pooper once more, maybe he should just keep his mouth shut.

"But maybe a poltergeist can help…" Sirius laughed.

"There is no way Peeves will help" Remus mumbled, he really just should keep quiet.

"Or…" James said dramatically as they sat down at the Gryffindor table. "We can come it into the toilet, and then flush, if we do it from the seventh floor, then it should be connected to all the other pipes as well."

"Of course," Sirius exclaimed loudly, the few students in the hall looked at him, some Slytherins send him a nasty look, though he didn´t seem to care. "James you are brilliant" he yelled loud enough for the Slytherins to hear.

"Sirius? Why are you yelling?" James asked confused.

"What? I`m not allowed to be excited or what?" he had a bored expression on his face.

"I didn´t say that, I only asked why you were yelling, half of Hogwarts heard you" James stated half-concerned, should he be concerned?

Sirius simply shrugged his shoulders. "But seventh floor? After lunch?"

Of course, the other boys agreed, there was a prank to be made, nothing else mattered right now. They tried not to look too guilty on their way up there, luckily it wasn´t suspicious as their common room was up there.

All four boys were standing around the toilet, it was crowded, but they paid no mind. Except for Remus, but he didn´t say anything. There was another guy in the toilet next door, so they made sure to keep quiet. Sirius held the vial over the toilet while James was prepared to flush.

James made 3 fingers, two fingers, one finger and then he flushed at the same time as Sirius spilt the potion in the toilet. Before it could react, the potion was flushed down, but rather soon it should work. They all looked at each other. Peter spotted something purple in the water that wasn´t exactly water. Within a second it had exploded at the same time there came a loud horrified scream from the toilet next to them.

All four boys were _covered_ in purple slime, they quickly got out from there and saw that the other toilets had exploded as well. From the toilet beside them came out none other than Snivellus, both James and Sirius couldn´t stop laughing at him. If the potion had exploded while he was sitting then…

Peter and Remus laughed as well, though Snivellus couldn´t see anything funny with it at all. "What have you foolish Gryffindors done" he looked rather angry, his face mixed with the purple rather well, and the slime hanged in his hair, it almost looked prettier this way.

His face became ever redder when all four boys continued to laugh, it was extremely hard to take him seriously while he was covered in purple, and any other time really. He was so emo.

Though their smiles quickly faded when Professor McGonagall entered with Filch and Mrs Norris behind. They did not seem to find this funny at all, McGonagall looked rather disappointed at all the boys.

"Black, Potter follow me" she ordered sternly. James and Sirius were both fully prepared to take all the blame, they knew Remus and Peter would do the same if they had been in the situation.

"Pettigrew and Lupin were in it too" Snivellus spoke up.

McGonagall saw their guilty faces and ordered them to come too. As they walked towards her office, the boys noticed that basically all the toilets had been broken. Some students looked rather mad, some older students had used magic to clean themselves while the rest found it rather funny to throw slime at each other. There would be none of that for Remus, Peter, Sirius and James.

Remus felt rather guilty, the potion wasn´t supposed to cause that much damage. Peter was kind of proud, though he didn´t want to think about what his mom -or Kayson- would say. Sirius couldn´t care less, his parents didn´t deserve his thoughts anyways, they could send as many howlers as they wanted. James just hoped his parents wouldn´t be too mad.

They all stood in front of McGonagall in her office, she stood on the other side of her desk, slime ran down their bodies and on to the floor.

"How _dare_ you, all four of you, do you have any idea how much damage you have caused? Several broken toilets, showers and I haven´t even begun on the lake!"

"The lake…?" Sirius questioned.

"The water system is connected to the lake" she explained impatiently. "It was pure luck that Hagrid was out there and spotted it, otherwise the whole lake would have been a giant slime ball by now."

James knew this was serious, but he couldn´t help but imagine the lake as a giant slimeball, it would be cool if it was made from something you could jump on. They should try that sometime. He tried very hard to suppress a smile, James looked down and hoped Professor McGonagall wouldn´t notice.

"This is very irresponsible of you, and for your actions, you will receive detention every day for a month…" all boys looked up at this, James little smile disappeared this instant. "… with me and I will write to your parents. I expect to see you here on Wednesday right after dinner. If you cause any more trouble today, it will be extended to two months" she pointed her wand at them which caused Sirius to take a quick step backwards, though he slipped in the slime and fell to the ground.

James was instantly by his side and McGonagall looked rather horrified. "I was just going to clean you" her stern tone didn´t fail, but you could hear the confusion in her voice.

"Sorry ma'am" Sirius quickly said and raised himself from the floor. "I didn´t think, sorry. Just clean us and we'll go."

Still a bit shocked she cleaned them, and they left her office. "Sirius-"

"It´s nothing" he snapped. "Just… whatever."

They walked a bit in silence then. Their first prank as friends had been quite fun, at first at least, though it got a bit out of hand, nothing was supposed to explode, and they didn´t know about the lake. Otherwise, they would have waited until they could do they water-making-charm.

"Why do you reckon we aren´t gonna begin before Wednesday? Peter asked suddenly.

"I don't know, it would make more sense if it was tomorrow, or today" James shrugged his shoulders.

Remus looked guilty.

….. ….. ….. ….. ….. ….. …..

The four boys had decided to do their homework before and after dinner, Peter, James and Sirius joked about the prank, it had been brilliant if they hadn´t gotten caught. Word had been spreading fast, no matter where they went the four boys either got nasty looks or cheers from other students. Remus was too tired to talk about it.

"Remus? Remus are you okay?" Sirius asked worried, Remus had his eyes half closed, he was practically laying down on the armchair. He was pale and a bit green. Without thinking much about it Remus nodded. "You don´t look okay… do you want me to take you to the hospital wing?"

Remus then got a really great idea, some of the visits to his mom could just be him being sick instead, it would be less suspicious. He shook his head. "It´s okay, I can walk myself" Remus raised himself, but then stood still for a moment, he felt very dizzy.

"Rubbish" Sirius raised himself as well. "I´ll go with you" Remus didn´t bother to argue so he just nodded, he then prepared to pack all his things.

"Don´t worry Remus, we´ll pack your things for you" Peter promised.

He nodded and followed Sirius out of the noisy common room, Sirius had to help him walk. Remus was just so tired, he could barely keep his eyes open, and let alone walk straight. They walked in silence all the way, Sirius opened the door to the hospital wing and called for Madam Pomfrey.

She came out from her office, Remus was glad she didn´t greet like she usually would, it would seem suspicious. "What can I do for you?" she asked kindly.

"Remus is ill ma'am" Sirius explained.

"Very well, Mr Lupin take a bed" Remus did as she told, but didn´t lay down, he didn´t think he would be able to come up if he did so. "You can go again Mr Black" she kept standing where she stood.

Sirius nodded. "We'll come and check you before breakfast tomorrow" he promised and then walked out of the door. Despite the situation and what was about to come, Remus wanted to smile. He had friends who cared about him and wanted to visit when he was ill.

Though it was short-lived, they would come tomorrow, how should he explain all the bandages? "What do we do now?" he asked helplessly.

Madam Pomfrey looked away from the door, and now at Remus. "Don't worry, I´ll get you a bit earlier than usual, to take care before they come. The hospital-clothes will cover your bandages. It will be fine."

It will be fine.

 **/….hmm… 4k words which are too long, but sometimes it just happens.** **Review? Thank you"**


	24. The day after

**I can´t believe I actually managed to finish this chapter.**

 **If you follow my Instagram halfravenhalfclaw you will be able to see behind the scenes on the fics, when I´m almost done and done.**

 **DISCLAIMER JK Rowling owes the wizarding world of Harry Potter and the Marauders.**

 **Last time: Sirius has a nightmare. The boys do their first prank together as friends, it affects Snivellus which is just a bonus, unfortunately, they get caught and receive detention for a month. The other boys think Remus is ill which he is, but because of the full moon.**

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ...**

 **The day after**

Their prank earlier… hadn´t turned out as they had hoped for, though it had been pretty funny anyways. But Peter wasn´t looking forward to their detention with McGonagall, for a whole month. It seemed like a very long time.

"The prank was wicked" Sirius exclaimed in the Gryffindor common room, they had just been eating dinner after having received the news of their detention and then decided to do a little bit of homework. James and Sirius were sitting in a couch together, Peter and Remus sat in each their own armchair in front of the fire.

"Agreed. Did you see Snivellus face? And his hair? I swear he will never get the slime out" James laughed, Sirius and Peter joined him, though Remus was sitting quietly and doing his homework.

"Fits perfectly with his slimy hair" Peter added. "That slime ball will have slimy hair forever."

"Unless he already has, honestly, hasn´t the guy heard of shampoo?" Sirius roared with laughter, though no one in the room noticed, it´s filled with Gryffindors, and Gryffindors are just being Gryffindors.

"Guys, guys, guys, you know McGonagall mentioned the thing with the lake being a giant slimeball? What if something like that happened, but it´s like something you can jump on?"

Sirius imagined the idea. "So, like a trampoline?" Peter asked. Both purebloods looked questioning at him. "You know, it´s round and there is like these things, so you can jump on it…" he trailed off, James and Sirius looked excitedly at him. It felt kind of weird. "What?"

"No, no, keep telling" James pleaded. "Is it a muggle thing? Can we make our own one?"

"Well, uh, it is a muggle thing, I don´t know if we can make one, but I got one at home…"

"Can you ask your parents to send it?" Sirius asked eagerly. He just knows it would make his parents mad if he had fun on a muggle thing.

"Oh yes please Peter, it would be so much fun" James pleaded. It was weird that his dream could come true.

"Ehh, I don´t know…"

"Please Peter, it would be amazing, right Remus?" they all looked at Remus to find out he had fallen asleep, his mouth was open, his face was pale and green. It was all tense, he didn´t seem to relax even the slightest bit at all. The three boys looked worried at their fourth friend.

Sirius reached towards Remus, but then remembered what had happened last time. He instead decided to just speak. "Remus? Remus are you okay?" he asked worried, Remus had his eyes half open. Why had he suddenly become so sick? Remus nodded. "You don't look okay... do you want me to take you to the hospital wing?"

He shook his head. "It's okay, I can walk myself" Remus raised himself and stood a moment where he seemed to get his balance.

"Rubbish" Sirius raised himself as well. "I'll go with you" how would Remus ever get there alone when he could barely stand? Not that Remus is weak or anything, but it would be difficult for anyone to walk while sick. Remus simply nodded and began to pack his things, though Peter interrupted.

"Don't worry Remus, we'll pack your things for you" he promised.

Remus nodded and followed Sirius out of the noisy common room, Sirius had to help him walk. Thought it wasn´t that hard, Remus was much smaller and weighed a lot less than himself, Sirius just hated to see his friend like this.

They walked in silence all the way, he tried to come up with something to say, but what do you say in a situation like this? Sirius opened the door to the hospital wing and called for Madam Pomfrey.

She came out of her office. "What can I do for you?" she asked kindly and looked mostly at Remus.

Though it was Sirius who answered. "Remus is ill ma'am" he explained.

"Very well, Mr Lupin take a bed" Remus did as she told, but didn't lay down, it looked as if he could pass out any second, Sirius wondered why he didn´t just lay down when he obviously needed it. "You can go again Mr Black" she kept standing where she stood.

Sirius suddenly looked at her, he nodded. "We'll come and check you before breakfast tomorrow" he promised, despite everything Remus smiled a bit, and then Sirius walked out of the door.

When Sirius had left the common room with Remus, Peter looked at James. They hadn´t been alone together before. "So… uh, should we just pack all our things now?"

James shrugged his shoulders. "I guess so… but uhh, about the trapo-lin thing-"

"Trampoline."

"Yes, that… can you _please_ just at least ask? It could be so much fun" he made his best pleading eyes. Peter shook his head. The school is filled with all kinds of magic, and this guy takes interest in a trampoline. Purebloods sometimes really just are unbelievable. "Come on!" James tried again. They were walking up the stairs to the dorm. "If you don´t I´m gonna write a letter pretending to be you."

Peter laughed. "You don't have to, I´ll write the letter."

James smiled all over his face. "Tell me how they work" he pleaded and jumped down on his bed. The Gryffindor dorm is the best, quiet unlike the common room, but red. Red is a really pretty colour if you should ask James.

"I think it´s better if you see it for yourself" he offered while shrugging his shoulders. Peter found a piece of parchment and began to scribble down.

 _Hi mom_

 _I was wondering if you could send me the trampoline, some of my friends have never seen one before and would love to try it. I´ll send it back as soon as we are done._

 _Love, Peter_

James laid down on his bed, the door was closed. Peter sat down on his own bed and laid the letter beside him. There was a long awkward silence, and it was James who broke it. "I love that we are all friends now" he stated and smiled towards Peter. "It´s really nice."

"Yeah, I like it too. Love it actually, you and Sirius are really cool, and you got Remus out of the library, honestly, how did you even do that?"

The other boy gave a little laugh. "We are that cool I guess… wanna know something funny?"

"Course."

"At the beginning of the year, Sirius was really obsessed with Remus, he was sure there was something weird about him. Though we never found out what" James frowned.

"He is something for himself" Peter agreed. "Though I can´t put my finger on it, it´s not like it´s a bad thing… but it´s certainly something."

They didn´t speak for a while, each boy in his own thoughts. The silence lasted for a while until Sirius entered the room and jumped down on his own bed. "I can´t bother school tomorrow, I can´t bother detention, can't I just be sick?" he exclaimed but it was faded by the mattress. He didn´t want to face the howler tomorrow.

"What did you say?" James asked and sat up.

Sirius rolled around. "I promised Remus we would visit tomorrow before breakfast, what´s our first subject tomorrow?"

"Transfiguration" James spoke up. "Guess what I made Peter do" he begged in a mysterious voice.

This made Sirius sit up, he looked from James to Peter, to James again. "What?"

"He will ask his parents to send the trapo-lin" James exclaimed excited and ignored Peter who corrected him.

"Really?" a smile quickly showed on Sirius´ face and he looked at Peter for confirmation, Peter shoved him the letter as a yes.

"And it´s still called a trampoline," Peter said knowingly.

"It doesn´t matter what´s it´s called" Sirius jumped out his bed. "Come on, we have to send that letter."

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

The boys walked towards the hospital wing, they had woken up the same time as usual, but for the first time ever, Peter and Sirius were quick to get dressed. Remus had spent the whole night alone in the hospital wing, they didn´t even know how bad it was. If they were going to see a healthy Remus or a sick one like the other day.

"He will be alright, right?" Peter asked nervously. He hadn´t ever seen Remus this sick before, only a bit tired and pale when he should visit his mom, but that´s all.

"Of course," James quickly replied. "Dad says Madam Pomfrey can heal everything, he met her at Sankt Mungos once, before she started to work here."

"Sankt Mungos only hires good people, and Dumbledore will only hire the best, so Remus is in the best of hands. He will be healthy again in no time" Sirius assured a nervous Peter. It was quite nice that the other boy was nervous, it helped him forget his own worries and instead help someone else.

They walked in silence for a bit.

"Peter have your parents replied to the letter yet?" James asked excitedly, he made a little skip in his steps. He wondered a lot about how it was to jump on a trapo-lin. If it was like jumping on jelly or something else.

"Since yesterday?" Peter asked. "No. Honestly, we haven´t left each other´s side since I send it."

"I can´t help it" James laughed. "I want to know what´s it´s like to jump on" he jumped a little on the place. There should be some kind of spell for this, what a wicked prank they could get out of it. It would be so fun to just jump around the hallways.

"Me neither…" Sirius agreed. "But we won´t do it before Remus is great again, right?"

"Of course, not" James stated.

"That´s not even a question, of course, we will wait for him" Peter agreed as well. Again, it just wouldn´t be fun if they weren´t all there.

The three boys finally reached the hospital wing, it was quiet, everyone in there was probably still asleep. Though they had to visit Remus, Sirius had promised they would. Neither of the boys could see either Remus or Madam Pomfrey anywhere.

"Madam Pomfrey? Remus?" Peter called into the room though there was no answer. They were met with silence.

"Uhh, where can they-" James began when Madam Pomfrey suddenly became visible behind a curtain. She smiled to all of them.

"He is in here. You get ten minutes and then he needs to rest" she gestured to the bed behind the curtain and then walked into her own office.

The three boys quickly walked over there. Remus was laying in the bed, his face was still pale, but less green than yesterday. His eyes were closed, and the duvet covered his whole body. Remus was breathing loud and steady.

"Remus?" Sirius asked and sat down on one of the chairs, but there was no response from the other boy, only his breathing could be heard.

"Do you think he is alright?" Peter asked as he and James sat down as well.

"Of course," James replied simply. "Madam Pomfrey has just been here, she knows what´s up, right?"

The other boys nodded, they trusted both Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey, Remus probably couldn´t be in better hands. It was almost scary to see him so weak like this, nothing like his usual self.

"Oh Merlin I need some chocolate" Peter exclaimed suddenly, it was stressing to just see his friend like this, and chocolate always fix everything.

This caused Remus to open his eyes, he looked at all the boys and then cracked a little smile. "Choc'lat?"

"What?" Peter asked confused.

Remus sighed and then moved his arm, so it pointed at James. "Choc'lat" he repeated and stared at what seemed like nothing, though his eyes were filled with determination.

"I think he says chocolate" Sirius stated knowingly.

"I don´t have chocolate" James exclaimed bewildered and looked around, but his glance couldn´t catch any chocolate. Remus very interestedly looked at all the boys, every time one of them mentioned chocolate a little smile appeared on his face, though it faltered quickly as if it hurt for him to do it.

Remus closed his eyes; his face was one big frown and he seemed very concentrated. "I… want… chocolate…" he mumbled quietly and opened his eyes again.

"Sorry Remus, we don´t have any chocolate," Sirius told sadly. Neither of the boys could bear the look on Remus´ face, his green eyes were filled with hurt and his face expressed the same thing.

"Wait! Don´t worry Remus, we´ll get some chocolate" Peter quickly said which caused Remus to look disbelieving. He looked around bewildered, and so did the other boys. Where was the chocolate when they needed it?

"Chocolate" Remus then suddenly said again and looked at something behind the boys. Madam Pomfrey stood there with chocolate in her hands, she gave it to Remus who was then immediately distracted.

"The ten minutes is over" she announced. "Hurry up if you want to get breakfast before class."

The boys quickly said goodbye and promised to come by later, but they could just as well have been talking to a wall, Remus didn´t sense anything because of the chocolate that he happily munched.

Neither boys said anything before they were far away from the hospital wing. The experience had sure been something, it was a new side of Remus that´s for sure. If it even had been Remus. He didn´t seem like himself at all.

"That was… interesting" James stated with a frown not really knowing what he should say about it all.

"Yeah… all that and he still manages to be funny" Sirius laughed.

"Sometimes he really surprised me" Peter agreed and laughed.

James seemed like the only one who didn´t get what they were talking about. "What?" he asked confused. "When was he funny?"

"With the chocolate" Sirius replied. He tried to do his best impression of Remus, he acted as if he was tired and pointed at James. "Choc'lat," he said which caused Peter to laugh again, James looked just as confused as before.

"What?" he asked again.

"Merlin James, are you that oblivious?" Peter grinned. "Your skin is the same colour as chocolate."

James finally caught on to what they meant, his brown face turned a bright shade of red. "But you are technically as well, white chocolate is a thing" he fired back, though the argument was lame.

"Right, you just tell yourself that" Sirius joked, but then hesitated. "If you don´t want us to joke about it, you just tell us, it´s not funny if you don´t find it funny."

His friend smiled. "Thanks, but it´s okay, I know it´s only for fun" they sat down at the Gryffindor table and happily began to eat. As always, they had egg, bacon, toast, jam and so much more. One of the best things about Hogwarts is they great meals.

There was a short-lived peace as the owls came in, Peter first spotted the three owls carrying a giant box, he recognized three of them as his own owl, Florence´s owl and their family owl. He couldn´t believe his mom actually got him the trampoline.

Peter was about to announce it to the others, but they both had pale faces, he saw where they were looking and spotted two different owls. The one was big and black; the other was brown with white wings. The thing they had in common was that they both carried a red letter each.

Peter got his box first, and then the owls dropped the letters in front of James and Sirius.

Sirius opened his first, as on their first day it screamed extremely loud and, in a language, no one could understand, but a big number of the Slytherins grinned. Though unlike the first time Sirius didn´t seem to care, at all. He ate his breakfast as if nothing happened.

When it was finally over, James´ was about to explode, he quickly opened it and was met with his mother's voice. "JAMES POTTER" the voice yelled and everyone in the great hall could hear it. "HOW DARE YOU FILL THE TOILETS WITH SLIME THAT YOU BREW ILLEGALLY. YOUR FATHER AND I ARE BOTH VERY DISAPPOINTED IN YOU RIGHT NOW…" she continued to yell in about two minutes before it finally stopped.

Every eye in the great hall was on the three boys.

The day flew by really fast -not fast enough, but still- they started out with transfiguration, which both James and Sirius were great at, though Peter was a complete mess, on the other hand, he did manage to turn his mouse into a snuffbox, kind of, it still had a tail, legs and whiskers.

It wasn´t any better in charms seeing as they were supposed to learn the fire-making-charm, with a handful of apologies Sirius and James ran towards the other end of the classroom before Peter cast the spell. Unluckily it was successful, and a table caught fire, luckily Professor Flitwick knew the water-making-charm, so he stopped it and asked Peter to be more careful next time. This caused all students to walk away from him.

Potions were as bad as ever -even though they were only trying to make the forgetful potion again- Peter managed to not only blow his own potion up but James´ too. Sirius only laughed at them until James threw some salamander tongues at him which he had found on the table from another class.

Finally it was all over, and they could visit Remus in the hospital wing again, they headed for the same bed like last time, but this time they found Remus sitting up while reading. He blushed when he saw them.

"Hi, guys" he mumbled and closed the book after putting a bookmark in.

"Hey Remus, how are you doing?" James asked worriedly and sat down on the bed, Sirius and Peter took the chairs.

"Fine…"

"Really?" Sirius asked teasingly. "Then why is your head redder than an oculus potion?" all the boys around him looked confused at Sirius, even though they were quite used to Sirius saying random things like this, it still surprises them. "A potion that increases your sight?" he looked expectant at all of them, though none of them understood. "You know, it´s red."

He sighed when neither of them still didn´t understand. "You mean redder than a tomato, right?" Peter asked carefully.

Sirius frowned. "No, I mean redder than an oculus potion, have you really never heard of it?"

"Sirius" James began. "No we haven´t."

Before Sirius could begin to explain even further, Remus cut him off and saved both Peter and James from more lecturing that day. "What did you learn today? Do we have homework?"

"We learned to turn a mouse into a snuffbox, or well Sirius and I learned, Peter almost did. We learned the fire-making-charm, and Peter set a table on fire, Sirius was already brilliant and I couldn´t even get sparks out. In potions, we made forgetful potion again, and Slughorn wants us to write an essay on the most common ingredients in it, there is nothing in neither transfiguration or charms, though it might come soon."

Peter blinked twice. "What he said."

Remus looked overwhelmed. "How am I going to get through all of that?" his tone was hopeless, he bent slightly in his back and looked down.

"Don´t worry Remus, you´ll get through it in no time" Sirius promised.

"But we have detention next Wednesday, for a whole month" Remus complained.

Sirius smile faltered, he had almost forgotten about that. There had fallen a bit of awkward silence in the hospital wing, actually, all the boys except Remus had forgotten about the detention. It was still weird they weren´t going to serve it before Wednesday.

"When can you get out?" Peter asked.

Remus sighed. "After dinner, hopefully, Madam Pomfrey is very strict about getting out."

"Would it help if you rested?" James asked carefully.

"It probably would" he shrugged his shoulders, he was still tired after the full moon, but he wanted to get back to classes as quickly as possible, there is nothing he hates more than to skip.

The other boys left, and Remus laid down to rest again, Madam Pomfrey released him after dinner and he went straight to bed.

 **/I wanna go a rewrite all the first chapters, I´m not okay with them, but I don´t know about it.**

 **Yeah well, now I have made James´ skin brown ((it was planned from the start)) because unlike JK I actually write it down that he is brown, and don´t just say it in an interview that he might be :D**

 **Wanna review? It would make me happy/**


	25. Friend doubts

**I feel like this took too long to update.**

 **DISCLAIMER JK owes characters and the wizarding world**

 **Last time: Peter promises he will get his trampoline to Hogwarts. James, Sirius and Peter visit Remus in the hospital wing where he is 'sick'. Both James and Sirius receive a howler.**

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 **Friend doubts**

Remus couldn´t believe that he had acted the way he had in front of the others, it was really embarrassing. Though after a few jokes, they quickly realized that he didn´t like it, and then stopped. He was glad to have them as friends.

While he had been gone, they had apparently gotten their hands on a trampoline. How? He decided not to ask, or why. Something he had learned was that Sirius and James didn´t need an excuse to do weird things, they just do them.

The other boys had planned to build it on the school grounds, with slight protests he had gone with them. He had lots of new things to learn after missing a whole day, though James and Sirius had promised they would help him after. If he came with them now.

They had decided to do it on Tuesday after classes. When Wednesday arrived, they wouldn´t get much spare time because of the detention. James and Sirius were the strongest and therefore carried the giant box, Remus and Peter walked behind them.

"So…" Peter said awkwardly. "You are all better now?"

Remus eyed him and then nodded. "Madam Pomfrey can do miracles, we are really lucky to have her" he stated and tried to walk without falling. His leg hurt greatly, but he didn´t want to spend more time in the hospital wing. Now he just had to come up with an excuse to not jump with the rest of them.

"When, uh, are you going to visit your mom again?"

"In like four weeks or something" exactly four weeks, it felt so far and yet so close. Remus wished he had something to take his mind off the moon.

"It´s full moon in exactly four weeks," Sirius said casually. Luckily neither of the other boys saw Remus´ horrified expression, they were too busy sending Sirius weird looks.

"Merlin, is there something you don´t know?" Peter asked surprised, only asking what the others were thinking.

Sirius hummed. "Nope" he laughed.

"But…" James was about to say seriously, but then changed his choice of words. "But really, why do you know when the next full moon is?"

"I love looking at it" he admitted thoughtfully. "No matter where I am it´s there too, like a giant protecting ball" James, Remus and Peter hadn´t imagined him to be so thoughtful. Remus felt awful and had a bad feeling inside, if Sirius knew when the full moons were, it wouldn´t take long before he saw a connection between that and his monthly disappearings.

"Maybe your mom got some kind of moon sickness" James joked but regretted it right after. Remus´ expression was horrified and sad. "No I didn´t mean it like that, I´m sorry Remus" he quickly said.

"It´s okay" Remus assured. Honestly, he was just happy that James cared enough to apologize so quickly. James and Sirius put down the giant box and began taking out all the content, there was some giant metal rods, a round black… thing and many springs. Both of them looked confused at all of it.

Peter took charge, he enjoyed being the one to know all of it for once. James and Sirius were already jumping of excitement, while Remus tried to keep up the best he could. It took about half an hour before it was finally ready to be jumped on.

Laughingly James, Sirius and Peter got onto the trampoline, Remus waited on the ground.

"Aren´t you coming too, Remus?" James asked when he noticed.

Remus simply shook his head. "I don´t like jumping."

"But we just got all the way out here" Sirius pouted.

"I still… I´m still feeling a bit bad after yesterday, I just lied to Madam Pomfrey, so I could get out…" he looked down to hide the blush. Remus is like the opposite of a bad boy. He pretends to be healthy, so he can come to school instead of the other way around.

"Only you would do that" Peter stated and rolled his eyes. He and James seemed to accept Remus´ decision, though Sirius wasn´t so easy to convince. He crawled all the way to the edge and raised his hand towards Remus.

"Come on" Sirius pleaded. "Just a little bit" he tempted. Remus eyed him, then rolled his eyes and took his hand. Sirius´ grip tightened and he pulled. When he was on the trampoline, Sirius tackled and pinned him down. "Get his shoes!" he yelled, but still laughed.

Peter and James took a shoe each. Remus tried to get away, and if he put everything into it, he probably could, but Remus didn´t know how to explain sudden strength. Instead, he just laughed and made bad attempts to get free. James threw both his shoes far away, and then Sirius raised himself.

"There Lupin" Sirius teased. "Now you have to jump until one of us will get your shoes."

Sirius was smirking. Remus moved his gaze to his shoes, if he went to get them, it would result in wet feet. He looked at Sirius again and smirked. Sirius laughed, he has never imagined Remus to smirk. "Not if I just sleep here."

As if they had prepared it, James, Peter and Sirius began jumping causing Remus to fly into the air. "Stop, stop, stop!" he yelled. The other boys stopped. Remus raised himself and ignored the pain in his leg, and prepared to jump with the others. Despite the cold, he was already panting and was tempted to take off his jacket but decided against it.

It was super cold, but the guys had a blast.

When they had had enough of jumping, the boys packed down the trampoline and quickly went inside for supper. As promised, James and Sirius helped Remus to catch up on his homework. They asked Flitwick if they could practice the fire-making-charm under his supervise. The professor said yes, which surprised them but made Remus really happy. James and Peter practised too, two of them managed to get sparks out and start a little fire, but James was able to create an even bigger one.

After that they helped him with the potion's homework, they were only supposed to write an essay, though Sirius decided that they should make the potion too. That way they could get more accurate descriptions for the essay.

Remus felt a lot better after the moon. That was until Wednesday finally came and they had to serve their detention with McGonagall. Of course, they had gotten even more homework during the day, and there wasn´t much time to do them.

"It´s okay Remus" James assured. "The detention won´t be during weekends, so we can still study there" this didn´t seem to comfort Remus, and he didn´t answer. James felt bad for pleading Remus to make the prank with them when he obviously hated detention seeing as it would make him get behind.

"Come on, this is with McGonagall, not _Filch_ _,_ so it can´t be that bad" Sirius argued with his silence. "Remember our detention together?" he shivered. "Now _that_ was awful."

Remus snorted and gave out a little laugh, he remembered the episode all too well. The smell had been so bad, he was sure he would pass out from it.

"And besides, maybe if we act all nicely, she will let us out early" Peter eyed James and Sirius who tried to look innocent.

Their smiles disappeared when they stood in front of her door. James knocked and she asked them to come in. There were four chairs with a piece of parchment and a quill in front of each and every one of them. Professor McGonagall sat on the other side of the table, she was writing on her own piece of parchment. "Take a seat" she ordered, all four boys silently did as she told. "I want each of you to write 'I will never brew potions illegally again' two hundred times."

They all began writing without complaining, the quicker they finished, the quicker they could get out of there. Sirius was bored, he had experienced punishments much worse than this. he should probably begin to think about exams, maybe if he could get a perfect grade, his parents wouldn´t be as mad as they are now. Then he should begin to prepare now.

Remus concentrated very much on having nice handwriting, he didn´t want to rewrite anything. James noticed that Sirius had beautiful handwriting. Of course, he had known before, but it didn´t even seem as if he was trying right now. Peter couldn´t even read what he was writing.

Professor McGonagall didn´t speak through the whole detention before Sirius handed his finished paper to her. She scanned through it to see if he had written it a whole two hundred times, she raised her eyebrow and Sirius smirked, he had written two hundred and one sentences. "Very well, Mr Black you can go. Same time here tomorrow."

Sirius silently walked out. It wasn´t that late yet, but he decided to wait for the next person to come out as well. James came and sat down with his back against the wall next to Sirius. "Hi," he greeted quietly. Sirius looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Hi?"

"You do realize that…" he turned his head to face Sirius. "…we haven´t talked about what upset you so much during Christmas," he said it carefully as if afraid he would hurt Sirius by talking about it.

The other boy sighed. James had hoped he would open up, hoping that he hadn´t talked about it because of Remus and Peter. Sure, they were all friends, but James and Sirius had been the longest, maybe Sirius felt safer with him, and over time, he would feel safe with Remus and Peter as well, but right now James just wanted to talk about it. With or without the others.

"I don´t wanna talk about it" Sirius mumbled and looked in the other direction.

"It will help if you do" James tried, he shifted closer to the other boy.

"No it won´t, it won´t solve anything, and I don´t need to talk about it" he stated stubbornly but leaned closer to James.

James slipped his arm around Sirius. "It will make you feel better if you let it out, maybe I can help find a solution, if not it will still be nice to talk about it. Being alone with things is the worst feeling ever" James remembered all the times he wanted to talk with someone, and couldn´t with his parents, yet there weren´t many more options than that.

Sirius decided to tell, he couldn´t tell everything, but it wouldn´t hurt to tell some things. "We just argued that´s all… we haven´t really argued that way before and I just…" James pulled him closer. "I hate to be on their bad side, and it will just be awful when I´m going to see them again after not have spoken to them in about six months."

"I´m sure you´ll figure it out… otherwise, you can always visit me anytime-"

Sirius´ head jerked up, he faced James now. "Really?" he exclaimed excitedly.

James laughed. "Of course! We are friends" he stated. "We can invite Peter and Remus as well. It´ll be super fun!"

"Super fun" Sirius agreed and nodded wildly. Wonder what James´ home looks like, it´s probably really cool and has a lot of Gryffindor in it. Just like his own parents have Slytherin everywhere. "I would love to come by" he stated truthfully.

Remus stepped out of the door and sat with his back to the opposite wall. James and Sirius shifted away from each other to not make Remus uncomfortable. "Peter has to write fifty more sentences because his handwriting was so bad," he told with a sigh.

"You can just go and do your homework if you like. Sirius and I will wait for Peter" James quickly said, he knew Remus wanted to do homework, but he also knew that he wouldn´t go unless either James or Sirius told him to. Remus is way too polite for that.

"Really? I won´t mind-"

"Yes, you will. Just go Remus, we know how much homework means to you, we will come as soon as Peter is done" Sirius cut him off.

Remus sighed as he realized they wouldn´t let him stay. "Fine, and thanks" he smiled and walked towards the Gryffindor tower.

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Remus paused, he could hear James and Sirius talking, they were being quiet, but not quiet enough for him. _We haven´t talked about what upset you so much during Christmas_ he heard, it was definitely James talking. Sirius answered very quietly, but James said _it will help if you do_ so he assumed Sirius didn´t want to talk about it.

Then he felt bad for overhearing their conversation, but on the other hand, it´s not his fault… _No it won´t, it won´t solve anything, and I don´t need to talk about it_ this time it was Sirius. He continued to listen and tried to write sentences at the same time.

 _We just argued that´s all…_ What did they argue about? Why did Sirius only tell James? Didn´t he trust Peter and him? No, that´s… is it? James and Sirius used to hate Remus, maybe there is still something deep inside of them that want him away. Maybe they aren´t as great friends as he thought.

He was completely lost in his own thoughts and only came back because Peter shook him lightly. "Mr Lupin are you finished?" Professor McGonagall asked. She was looking through Peter´s parchment.

"Uhh, no, sorry Professor. Just a moment" he turned back to the parchment and wrote down the last sentences and handed the parchment to Professor McGonagall who had finished looking through Peter´s parchment.

"Pettigrew your handwriting is dreadful, I need you to rewrite fifty of these, Lupin you can go," she told and returned to her own parchment.

Remus walked out of the door to find Sirius and James sitting very close to each other, they shifted away when they saw him. He decided to sit by the other wall. "Peter has to write fifty more sentences because his handwriting was so bad," he told with a sigh.

"You can just go and do your homework if you like. Sirius and I will wait for Peter" James quickly said as if he didn´t want Remus there.

"Really? I won´t mind-" being here with you, in fact, I would much rather than to do homework by myself.

"Yes you will. Just go Remus, we know how much homework means to you, we will come as soon as Peter is done" Sirius cut him off.

Remus sighed as he realized they wouldn´t let him stay. "Fine, and thanks" he assumed they thought they were doing him a favour. He fake-smiled and walked towards the Gryffindor tower. Maybe they really don´t want to be with him.

When he finally came to the dorm, Remus really didn´t feel like doing his homework and only half-hearted tried to write on his potions essay. It had been a half hour since Remus left the others. They were probably having lots of fun without him, it couldn´t possibly take Peter that long to write fifty sentences.

Fifteen minutes more went by and the others didn´t show up. Remus gave up on the essay and decided to just sleep instead. He had no idea what time it was when the others finally came back, they tried their best to be quiet when they saw the closed curtains. Remus didn´t know if he even got any sleep that night.

….

Why was he hiding there? Good question, very good question and Peter would like to know himself. So, if you ever find out why his mom dated a guy who ruined his life, be sure to tell the poor guy.

Peter is only nine years old. He could hear the angry footsteps of his mom stamping in the other direction. Maybe he had been sitting alone for an hour before she came, perhaps two. His siblings were probably playing together with their toys.

It didn´t take long before he could hear the scream. "YOU ARE NOT THREATENING HIM!" he almost couldn´t recognize it, it wasn´t anything like her usual soft voice. Everyone in the house would be able to hear it.

Quickly after her words, another voice followed. "WHERE IS HE?" this voice couldn´t be mistaken as he had heard it many times before. Their voices became louder and louder, they kept repeating themselves. Kayson yelling 'where is he' while his mom yelled 'you don´t touch him'. They kept screaming until they were in front of him.

It didn´t stop there.

There was yelling and more yelling. Peter wished it would stop, but life has never gone his way, so why should it begin now? When they had finally finished yelling, there was silence and only silence. Peter doesn´t know what he prefers.

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Sirius couldn´t believe that Remus laughed like that, wild and free, the tiny boy was always reserved and closed down. Always looking over his shoulder, to see if someone was noticing him perhaps? Sirius couldn´t know, but once he had seen the boy do it once, he noticed it every time.

The four boys had been writing sentences in detention five days a week for almost an entire month, though they didn´t serve detention the last day, and was, therefore, one day away from being there a whole of four weeks which was kind of strange.

James, Peter and Sirius had a fun time while Remus was visiting his mom (though it would have been funnier with him) and it was actually quite nice. They were doing way more homework than Peter had expected, but James and Sirius helped him which was really cool.

The boys even came up with another idea for a prank, and couldn´t wait to tell Remus about this. It was a big disappointment when he didn´t want to do it. It wasn´t long before they would be taking their first exam, and all the boys were really much behind.

Remus had been away from the others more often than before, instead of doing homework with them in the common room, he did it in the library. He didn´t eat at the same time as them, both waking up really early because 'he had to do homework before class', and either eating supper late or early. Never with the others. They had become quite worried, but Remus kept brushing it off, stating that he just really wanted to do great in the exam and that they were only imaging things. Of course he didn´t avoid them what are you talking about.

He was just… keeping the distance, that´s all. Remus started to notice things about their behaviour, they mostly teased him. He and Peter almost had the same size, yet they only teased Remus about his height. They also kept teasing him about how much time he was spending on homework, yet they spend just as much time.

It wasn´t nice at all, he had just become used to the fact that they were all very good friends when in reality they didn´t want to be his. This kept him awake many nights for months.

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 **Poor Remy.**

 **Like and review, please! 3**


	26. Very much time

**I´m sorry this took so long, there was just things and other things.**

 **DISCLAIMER JK Rowling owes the wizarding world of Harry Potter.**

 **Last time: the four boys have a fun time jumping on the trampoline before serving their first detention with Professor McGonagall. There was a not so nice flashback about something that happened in Peter´s past. Remus doubts his friends and believes that they don´t wanna be his friends anymore.**

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 **Very much time**

Remus had been spending very much time in the library lately. He had been missing out of a lot of fun moments with the others because he was never around. James, Peter and Sirius were all worried about him; maybe something was terribly wrong.

Peter thought he was just worried about his mom; the illness might have been getting worse. Though when he asked, Remus said that nothing was wrong and that he didn´t need to worry. It hurt Peter that his friend didn´t want to open up to him.

They tried to include Remus as much as possible, but he somehow always found a way to disappear. Sirius felt bad about it, Remus had just only really opened up to him and James, and now he was shutting down again. What if he doesn´t want to be their friend? What if he and James are keeping Remus from being friends with Peter?

One day Sirius decided that he had to talk with Remus, it was a month before their first exam. It hadn´t gotten any better over time as they had hoped for, Remus wasn´t with them much and only spoke when spoken to, even there he also said as little as possible.

It had been going on for way too long, they should have done something a very long time ago. Maybe if he opened up to Remus, Remus would open up to him as well.

It was an early Saturday morning, almost the entire population were seeing the last Quidditch match of the year, Gryffindor had to win over Hufflepuff with more than two hundred and fifty points to beat Slytherin. Remus hadn´t wanted to join -just as all the other matches- and Sirius decided that he could miss out on one -even though this was the most exciting one- if he could help Remus.

Sirius had come up with a lame excuse about forgetting his scarf and that he would meet James and Peter as fast as he could, but instead of getting his scarf he headed towards the library to find Remus. Remus sat by one of the tables and seemed lost in a book. Sirius walked over there and sat beside him, for the first time around Remus he was nervous.

"Hi" Sirius greeted. Remus looked at him shortly, greeted, and then turned to his book again. "Remus you have been avoiding us -don´t deny it- and I wanna know why or else-" he began firmly.

"And you think I´m gonna tell you because you are threatening me?"

He was taken aback, it wasn´t meant to sound like a threat… wait is that a threat? Oh. "Sorry Remus" he quickly said not wanting to upset Remus even more. "This 'having friends' thing is still pretty new. It wasn´t meant to be a threat."

"It´s okay" Remus simply replied. Not with a smile, not with a happy tone. Just sad.

Remus missed Sirius´ hurt expression. "Why are you so mad all the time? What did I do? How can I fix it?" he asked with a tiny voice and hated how pleading it was. Remus looked up to see Sirius with wide and hurt eyes. He bit his lip.

"You didn´t do anything wrong, Sirius," he told and closed the book. Sirius saw that it was Fantastic Beasts and where to find them by Newt Scamander,

"That makes it sound like I did something" Sirius laughed nervously.

"No one did anything," Remus told with a sigh and avoided looking at him. He hated to hurt Sirius, but if he is hurt, he should talk with… with his real friends.

"Is that the problem? We haven´t done enough?" Sirius asked eagerly yet gently, he was happy that Remus was opening up to him.

"No-"

"Then what is it? I wanna help" Sirius insisted, he wouldn´t leave before Remus was feeling better. He couldn´t leave when the other boy was obviously hurting. When his friend was hurting.

"It´s fine Sirius, just go see the Quidditch match, I understand" Remus snapped suddenly and regretting it right after.

Sirius pulled a confused expression. "Understand what?"

"Doesn´t matter" he mumbled and crossed his arms. Why did Sirius have rub salt in the wound? They both know that the friendship they have isn´t real.

"It _does_ matter Remus because it has upset you. What is it you understand?" Sirius asked genuinely concerned, it wasn´t like Remus to snap. He was used to Remus always being restrained, but the other boy never did something that could hurt any of the others.

"I understand that you don´t wanna be my friend" he yelled finally and turned around. Remus couldn´t see Sirius leave, he didn´t want to lose his friend, even when he knew Sirius and probably James too didn´t actually like him.

Remus did not expect the hand on his shoulder. "Is that why you are upset? You think we don´t wanna be your friend?" Sirius asked softly. Remus felt embarrassed as he nodded. "It´s absurd, why do you think so?"

"Because after our first detention you and James were sitting really close, and neither of you -not even Peter- has done that to me. You always tease me about my height even though I´m only a little bit smaller than Peter, and you always tease me about how much homework I do, even though you do just as much as me" Remus could feel a tear fall down.

Sirius gently turned Remus around to look into his eyes. "I won´t apologize for what happened between James and I because he was only comforting me, yet I am sorry about not being the best friend for you. It´s all still pretty new, it´s just that you seem so vulnerable and I don´t wanna hurt you. I´m sorry about the teasing too, we thought you liked it, you know, friends tease each other sometimes for fun, though I know both James, Peter and I will stop this instant if you don´t like it."

It was weird to see Sirius so serious like this, there is probably only a few people who have. "I… I didn´t…" Remus sighed. "…sometimes I just doubt others, I thought all of this meant you didn´t want to be my friend, and only had me stay because you couldn´t kick me out of the group" Remus was afraid that Sirius would laugh at him, right now his worries seemed pretty silly.

Yet the other boy did laugh, just not at him. "We are _never_ gonna kick you out of the group, Remus, of course, we aren´t" he smiled. Remus took a deep breath through his nostrils and was happy about the scent that was around Sirius. He was telling the truth. When Remus smiled Sirius laughed. "And about the teasing, do you want us to stop?"

Remus who was feeling much better shook his head. "It´s fine, I guess, I know you don´t mean anything with it" he stated rather embarrassed. Why did he always have to make such a big fuss out of everything?

"Great" Sirius raised from the chair and opened his arms.

"Uhh."

"What? You wanted more hugs, and doesn´t friends always hug when they make up?" He said with his head tilted to the side. Remus was blushing but nevertheless raised himself and let Sirius wrap his arms around him.

It didn´t last too long, but Remus was very grateful for the gesture. Sirius just enjoyed hugging others.

"Hugs is like the best thing in the world" Sirius started laughing. Hugging Remus felt just as great as hugging James, he should hug Peter some time too. Or what if they all hugged at the same time? That would with no doubt be the best thing in the world.

Remus nodded in agreement. "Yeah… uhh, wanna see the game?"

"You coming?" Sirius asked surprised.

"Yeah… I mean I could use a break, it´s been quite boring doing homework all the time, and never hanging out with you guys."

The two boys happily walked towards the Quidditch pitch, they both felt so much better after talking. Cold air hit them as they stepped outside. Even though the sun was shining brightly, the wind was cold and therefore made it necessary for the boys to wear scarfs and gloves. Or well, Remus didn´t have his things seeing as that was still in the dorm.

"You are gonna freeze" Sirius stated when he noticed. "Here take mine…" he took off his gloves and offered them to Remus. Though the other boy refused stating that he would be fine thank you very much. Sirius rolled his eyes and grabbed Remus´ hand instead, he rolled up the sleeve to give him the glove on properly.

That´s when he noticed the scar. It was a thin one, yet deep. There were two other thinner ones on each side, like an animal that had clawed into his skin. When Remus noticed his hesitation -and gaze- he quickly withdrew his hand and rolled down his sleeve again.

Sirius couldn´t see his face and that worried him. Had he ruined it already? "Do you still want the glove?" without answering Remus grabbed the gloves, put them on and mumbled a quick thank you. They were almost at the Quidditch field, Sirius could hear the commentator and noise from all the audience, yet it wasn´t as noisy as the silence from Remus. "Where did you get it?" he asked finally.

"We… my family and I… We had a cat. When I was younger, it kind of… you know. And then it had to… it wasn´t safe, so we couldn´t have it anymore. It´s my fault and I just… feel… bad… about it" Remus looked down as he had finished speaking.

"What?" Sirius asked confused.

Remus sighed. "We had a cat when I was younger, one day it cut my skin, and… well, we couldn´t keep it after that. I have always felt it was my fault."

"Oh… I´m sorry to hear that" Sirius admitted. He had never had a pet when he was younger, only the house-elves, but they don´t count. "But why do you still have the scar?" he asked concerned, maybe there was some kind of magic involved, maybe the cat had been dangerous.

"She was magical, we have tried a lot of things, but nothing has ever worked" he shrugged it off. Sirius decided not to dive more into it, after all, Remus said it was nothing. Remus would never lie to him.

"It looks cool though" Sirius stated just before a bunch of screams of both happiness and dreadfulness broke out from the Quidditch pitch. "I guess someone caught the snitch," he said awkwardly. Who had won?

"Yeah… I hope Gryffindor won, that would be really cool" Remus stated. Students began to walk away from the Pitch. By the sorrowful look of their fellow Gryffindors and the pleased expressions on the slimy-Slytherins, it wasn´t hard for the boys to guess who had won the match. "I´m sorry you missed the match" Remus mumbled shamefully.

Sirius grinned. "It´s okay, really. There will be games all the years forward, and next year we might get the pleasure to watch James play… if that is even a pleasure" he joked, and Remus laughed shortly.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" they suddenly heard James yell. More than a few heads turned to look towards the sound, yet James seemed oblivious to this. He marched up to Sirius and Remus with Peter right behind him and a stern look on his face. "You missed the match" he accused.

Remus was about to defend them when Peter broke in. "I bet they were in the library" he joked.

Remus was about to defend himself once more, but this time Sirius came first. "Maybe you should start spending some time there too Peter, might be good for you" he teased which Peter responded with sticking his tongue out.

"How was the game?" Remus quickly asked before he could get interrupted again.

James was the one who answered being the Quidditch player and coolest person in the friend group. As he liked to think. "It was good. Hufflepuff didn´t seem to try to beat Slytherin´s score but just went for not being the last. Gryffindor tried to get over a hundred points before catching the snitch -so we could beat Slytherin- though Hufflepuff was close to catching it, and if McKinnon hadn´t caught it then, we would have gotten third place."

"So we got second?" Sirius asked disappointedly.

"I´m afraid so" James responded equally disappointed.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Come on guys, it´s just Quidditch."

This might have been the worst possible thing he could have answered surrounded by Quidditch-fans. While James, Sirius and Peter settled with looking outraged, Marlene McKinnon and Debby Law could not.

"Just Quidditch?!"

"JUST QUIDDITCH?!"

It seemed as if both girls were about to attack the poor little boy but then James stood protectively in between them. "Relax! We are still trying to educate him in the wonders of Quidditch, no need to interfere" he stated firmly.

McKinnon glared at Remus who seemed to look for a way to escape. "I´ll test you soon" she warned and left with Law. The two girls both looked back right before they entered the door to the school. Remus sighed with relief.

"JUST QUIDDITCH?!" James exclaimed. "How can you say that? It not _just_ Quidditch Remus. It´s _Quidditch_ " he said it as if it explained it all.

"Merlin James it´s just a game" Remus defended. He felt his heart ache, it didn´t seem like James liked him right now. Remus only wanted the argument to stop as quick as possible.

"Let´s talk about something else" Peter quickly said before James could start ranting about how Quidditch is not just a game and how amazing it is. "What about we make a prank? If it isn´t too much trouble for you to think about something else than Quidditch" he added the last bit to James who rolled his eyes.

"Of course I can think about other things than Quidditch" he stated.

"Really? You can? Then why don´t you do that?" Sirius teased.

"I find no reason to" James started laughing.

The boys walked back to the castle. James and Peter had been freezing their arses off on the pitch -the wind really wasn´t friendly- and was eager to eat some lunch in the _warm_ great hall. Sirius and Remus not so much, yet they followed anyways.

The black-haired boy with the messy hair and the chubby boy with the mousy hair quickly ran inside, the other two boys were close behind. Sirius gently nudged Remus in the side and smiled questioning. The smaller boy smiled back. It was a quiet exchange, yet it felt great for both.

They all headed for the great hall which served great food as always. The Slytherins were enjoying themselves way too much for anyone´s liking. Sirius and James especially hated it for different -yet similar- reasons.

Sirius didn´t eat too much, and luckily the other boys didn´t notice. This was the last Quidditch match of the year and they would be going home soon, which meant he would see his parents again soon. He hadn´t received a single letter from Regulus since the one before Christmas and it kinda hurt that his brother was on their parent´s side in all this.

James simply hated to lose to the Slytherins, and this gave one more reason for Snivellus to brag.

"Come on guys. Hurry up, will you? We got to go to the library!" James exclaimed impatiently.

"Library? Really? I just came from there" Remus stated. "I didn´t think you liked the library" he raised his eyebrow at James who rolled his eyes.

"It´s not to study silly-"

"His name isn´t silly" Remus quickly interjected and gestured towards a certain Black. "It´s Sirius."

Peter, James and Sirius all burst out laughing. Remus was very pleased with himself and kinda red around the cheeks. Some of the other Gryffindors might have sent them weird looks, yet neither could bring themselves to care. Sirius was happy that Remus was feeling better already.

"Okay, _as I said_ , it´s not to study. It´s for the prank" James explained once he had caught his breath again.

"Because that makes it so much better" Remus rolled his eyes.

"Finally you agree with me" James laughed.

Peter decided to ask the question Remus was probably dying to ask. "What about the exams? Will it get in the way?"

"Not if we do the prank after" Sirius suggested going with the flow Peter started to help Remus. "Then the teachers can´t give us detention, and if they do it will only be next year."

"Then it won´t get in the way of the exams. We could also use spells or potions for the prank we must study anyways" James smiled to the others.

Remus blushed slightly. "Thanks, guys" he mumbled. It was nice that they respected his need for studying, and still was able to put in some fun.

Sirius looked fake offended. "Whatever do you mean Remus? We have of course been saying this because we all do care very much about our education" the other boys all laughed.

"No problem Remus" Peter decided to say before neither James nor Sirius could come up with more jokes. Sometimes it felt like they were joke machines quite literally. "We really should study anyways… any of you who can help me with the dancing charm? I haven´t quite gotten it right yet and by what Flitwick has said it´s probably in our exam" Peter hated that he was still worse than most people in their year at almost everything.

"I´ll help" Sirius offered. "I have been told that I´m a pretty good tutor" he beamed proudly.

James snorted while Remus and Peter laughed. "By who?"

"My brother" Sirius declared. "He couldn´t really get the dancing charm right himself before I helped" it had been really funny the day he finally got it, they had both been enchanting the entire living room. Their parents really didn´t know if they should punish or praise them as Regulus had learned it and Sirius had been the one to teach him. They decided for both praising and punishing.

Peter frowned. "What do you mean? Isn´t your brother younger than you? He shouldn´t be learning magic already."

"Peter is right" Remus frowned as well. "We only learned the charm after Christmas, when did you teach him?"

"Oh yeah…" Sirius had almost forgotten that Remus and Peter didn´t already know about him being taught magic at home. It felt like they had been friends all their time at Hogwarts. "My parents don´t care about rules so I got my wand when I was nine and have been taught magic at home ever since" he tried to brush it off as it was no big deal.

"Is that why you like pranking and breaking rules that much?" Peter joked.

Sirius actually laughed. "Yeah it is" he decided. Remus looked tense and Sirius did not like that. "Hey Remus, anything wrong?" he asked concerned. Both James and Peter turned their attention to Remus.

As Remus suddenly looked up it seemed as if he was going to say no and brush it off but the look on Sirius´ face changed his mind. "I just think it´s unfair that some people have to fight for everything in life while others just break the rules like it´s nothing."

"I guess so" Sirius stated embarrassed.

"Oh no… sorry Sirius I didn´t mean it like that" Remus quickly blurted out.

"It´s okay Remus. I know you didn´t" Sirius smiled.

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 **While writing this I realized there was a scene I wanted earlier but forgot to write. I really want the scene to be here so I´ll write it and tell when I have so you can go back!**

 **Remember to like and review. It only takes a few seconds, but it makes my day so much better!**


	27. No fear is silly

**DISCLAIMER JK Rowling owes the wizarding world of Harry Potter.**

 **Last time: Sirius convinces Remus that he shouldn't feel like he doesn't belong with the rest of them because he does. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff play the last match of the year. Slytherin wins the Quidditch cup while Gryffindor gets second place. The boys prepare for a last prank of the year.**

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 **No fear is silly**

The four boys were walking towards the lake, two of them had plans on jumping into the water, one of them was trying to come up with a good reason to not jump in, the last one only joined them because they are his friends.

As soon as they were all by the lake, James and Peter began to undress while Remus and Sirius did not. James was still curious to why Sirius wouldn't want to jump into the water, he knew why Remus didn't want to. He was afraid of water. But Sirius had just stated that he didn't want to.

"Aren't you coming in?" Peter asked Sirius as he knew Remus was afraid of water and therefore wouldn't want to join in. He was happy though because Remus no longer distanced himself from the others.

"Nah" Sirius shrugged. "Someone got to stay up here with Remus."

"You don't have to" Remus quickly exclaimed. James rolled his eyes when no one was looking, Remus really is too nice to get things from others. James got to change that.

"It almost sounds like you don't want me here" he teased.

Remus playfully hit his arm. "You know that's not what I meant" he mumbled.

"Come on Peter," James said when they were both only wearing their boxers. "If they don't wanna join we just have to leave the chickens up here" the two half-naked boys walked back towards the water. The offended look on Sirius' face was a triumph to him. James hoped that Sirius would prove him wrong and join in the water, but he just sat down against a tree next to Remus.

Suddenly ice-cold water hit his back. James quickly turned around to face Peter with a mischievous grin. It didn't take long before James was in the water as well and throwing some water at Peter. They battled for a while. The cold water didn't feel so cold when the hot sun warmed their skin.

It was weird to feel so alive. It had been hard on all of them taking their first exams. James had just had the thought that it was all gonna be alright, he was good at all the subjects. Peter had tried hard, but he didn't feel like it had been going that well. Sirius had seemed even more stressed out than Remus -which really said something- even though he was the best of them all. Remus had seen surprisingly chill despite his usual fuss about it, but James had the feeling that he was only hiding it seeing as he seemed nervous just about all the time.

Sirius and Remus were practically sleeping on their spot under the tree, which gave James an idea. "Hey, Peter" he whisper-yelled. Peter walked towards him and seemed to sense the idea James was getting. His expression surely gave him away. "What do you say we bring the lake to them, now that they don't wanna go to the lake?" a smirk crept onto his face.

Peter quickly gazed at the two boys under the tree, and he knew there was no way he could convince James not to do it. Besides, it could be fun. "How do we do that?" he decided to ask after a short pause.

"We need a bucket or something."

"And how do we get that?"

"We..." he suddenly got an amazing idea. "We can use a cloak. They are waterproof it's gonna work" James and Peter quietly walked towards the shore again and dragged James' cloak down to the lake again. They filled it with a lot, but not more than they could carry.

When they got closer James noticed that they were both sleeping. Sirius leaned against the tree and Remus leaned against both Sirius and the tree. They were kind of cute... but James never thought that! It's so not guy-ish to think someone is cute.

Peter and James carefully lifted the cloak over their sleeping friend's heads. He whispered. "Three... two... one... now!" and then they turned the cloak around resulting in wet people.

Sirius jumped up, at first looking shocked, but when he noticed James and Peter laughing, he went in for an attack. Remus jumped too, he was just still sitting down, when the shocked had disappeared he dragged his own cloak around him and walked towards the school.

Sirius was laying on top on James when Peter suddenly yelled. "Remus where are you going?" both boys stopped what they were doing to look at Remus walking away. He didn't answer Peter but only walked faster. Sirius hurried towards him and James came right after. Or he wanted to do that when he realized he was only wearing his underwear. By the time he had finally found a towel to wrap around himself, Sirius was back, and Remus wasn't with him.

"What was that about?" Peter asked before James could.

Sirius shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. He just said he was going to change because he hates being wet or something..." Sirius and Peter looked just as confused as James felt.

"You don't think he is mad at me? Do you?" James asked nervously. It might have been both him and Peter who had done it, but they all know it was James who had gotten the idea.

"No!" Sirius and Peter quickly responded at the exact same time.

James did not believe them. Kind of. He didn't think that Remus was mad because Remus is never mad. On the outside at least. He is the kind of person who is really hard to read. Just like Sirius. James hates to upset people, especially Remus for some unknown reason. It felt you had done something extremely wrong every time you upset Remus even the slightest.

"I should apologize to him," James told more himself than the others. He quickly picked up his clothes and walked towards the castle without caring about the fact he was only wearing boxers and a towel. Some people might have stared.

"Potter what do you think you are doing?" a stern voice suddenly filled the hallway. James didn't have to turn around to know that it was Professor McGonagall, but he had to. And as he did, James tried to come up with a really good excuse for whatever he had done.

"Hi Professor" he smiled innocently. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I want to talk about your lack of uniform Mr Potter" she had her arms crossed.

"I'm not lacking it" he defended. "It's right here" James lifted up the uniform he was holding in his arms. Professor McGonagall did not look pleased with his answer.

"This is a break on the school rules" she announced, and James prepared for whatever punishment he would receive for this. "Detention with me tonight, and ten points-"

"Actually professor..." James jumped as Remus was suddenly beside him, he was no longer wet. "It's not against the rules to not wear the uniform outside of class as long as he got covered the necessary areas. If you ask me..." Remus gestured to James. "He got them covered" if James wasn't mistaken, he saw Remus actually smirk.

Though an even more weird look met him. Professor McGonagall was smiling for about one second before going back to her usual stern look. "Okay. Seems like you are right... now run off before Mr Filch comes around, he might not be as accepting as I" with that said she turned around and marched in the other direction.

"Remus that was amazing" James exclaimed once she had left.

"Not so boring, now am I?" he joked and giggled.

"I never said you were boring!" James and Remus walked towards the common room. They didn't want to risk James getting caught by Filch when they had just escaped McGonagall. Sirius and Peter weren't yet in the dorm when the two arrived. "Remus I'm sorry about the whole water thing..."

"It's okay" the other boy quickly assured. "I know it was just for fun... I just hate being wet" Remus looked a little bit ashamed.

James clapped him gently on his back. "It doesn't matter... but someday you might find yourself waking up in the lake" he joked, and Remus laughed. "I mean it" he then said seriously and laughed inside himself... kinda. "If you wanna get help with facing it sometime, then we will help you. You know that, right?"

Remus smiled. "Yeah, I know. I'm glad you don't tease me about it, I know it's silly."

"It's not silly" James assured. No fear is silly and should, therefore, be treated with respect and care. "I'm gonna take a shower" he announced and headed for the bathroom. The lake water wasn't exactly clean with all its sea creatures.

When he returned Sirius took the shower before Peter and Remus were reading a book. Despite the little nap he had had outside Remus still looked tired.

"You okay Remus?" James asked casually and went towards his bed to pull on some clothes for dinner.

"Yeah I'm just a little tired after exams and stuff... also I'm gonna visit my mom later" it was almost weird how it sounded like he _tried_ to say it casually, but it actually wasn't. It almost distracted James from what he had actually said.

"Why are you going to visit her now? School is ending on Friday. That's four days from now" Peter interjected with a frown on his face. That's when James realized what Remus had actually said.

Remus held onto the book like a lifeline. "Just because I have to" he mumbled and acted as if he continued reading the book.

"But you will see her on Friday, why visit now?" James pressed even though he was unsure if he should. This was Remus' business and he shouldn't intertwine if the other boy wasn't happy to share.

Unconsciously Remus rocked back and forth slightly. "It's just... she isn't awake all the time, and conscious all the time... and even when I'm home I can't see her all the time because of it. She will be awake tomorrow, so I have to go tonight..."

"That's fine" James quickly assured, he and Peter shouldn't have acted the way they did. "But you are gonna come back for our end-of-year prank, right?"

Remus managed a smile. "Of course. I won't miss the end of term feast either, the trip to the platform or the last classes. I will be back tomorrow night, or the morning after that" he seemed much more relaxed now.

"And when are you leaving?" Peter then asked.

"After dinner tonight."

There was a silence where Remus kept reading, James took on clothes and Peter waited for Sirius to finish the shower he had spent abnormally long-time in.

Another half-hour went by before Sirius finally got out from there. He had buried some trousers and a t-shirt from James because he didn't have any 'normal' clothes himself. It fit perfectly.

"Finally!" Peter exclaimed and quickly hurried towards the bathroom. His body had started itching. Sirius didn't answer but simply jumped down on his back on his bed and closed his eyes.

"What took you so long?" James asked and jumped down next to Sirius who groaned.

"I had to wash my hair... unlike someone" he glared at James. "I care about it" Sirius received a pillow in his face for that comment. "My hair" he suddenly whined. He glared at James again. "How dare you?" and then he threw the pillow back at James which resulted in a wrestling fight.

Sirius was a bit stronger than James expected, but he managed to be top. James sat down on him and threw his arms in the air. "I win."

"No you don't" Sirius managed to turn them around so he was top instead. He laughed triumphantly down at James and after that stuck his tongue out. James squirmed out from under Sirius and hit him playfully. Sirius hit him playfully back and they then laughed.

James suddenly noticed Remus secretly glaring at them. He poked Sirius at the same time Sirius poked him. They quietly decided to tip-toe towards him, but James felt like Remus already knew they were coming. Sirius snapped the book from Remus and James pulled him forwards, which resulted in Remus being on top of him and Sirius being on top of Remus.

They all laughed when Peter returned from the bathroom and joined them on Remus' bed.

...

"Guys we need to talk" Sirius whispered. They had been eating dinner and Remus had gone to visit his mom. Peter, James and Sirius were hanging out in the common room to play some exploding snap.

"What is it?" Peter asked still concentrated on the game.

"Remus going home again."

"Sirius you got to stop with that" James complained. "There is nothing weird about him visiting his ill mom."

"But every month? And there is no illness where you only wake up from time to time, and there is no way he will be able to tell when she will wake up" Sirius didn't dig in this because he wanted to hurt Remus, far from it actually, he wanted to help Remus, but he just needed to know what was going on.

"You don't know everything" Peter stated.

Sirius looked hurt, and Peter immediately apologized.

"Ask him then, okay? Just don't push any bottoms he doesn't want to be pushed... we technically have no right to know" James offered.

They played in silence for a few minutes before Peter decided to break it.

"I wonder why Remus freaked so much out about the water."

"Because when white gets wet it turns invisible" Sirius stated as if it was obvious. James and Peter both raised their eyebrow. Sirius realized he had once again assumed people knew as much as him. "Remus has this scar on his wrist -that he had gotten from a cat he once owned- and I think he is ashamed of it."

James' expression turned to understand while Peter's face remained the same. "But Remus has never owned a pet" he stated confused.

Sirius looked up suddenly. "Why would he lie to me?" he asked hurt after a short pause. Sirius didn't think Remus would ever lie to him. Why had he lied?

"He probably didn't mean it like that" James said and reached towards Sirius to hold his arm briefly.

"Or maybe I remember wrong" Peter offered quickly after. "It's probably just a misunderstanding."

...

Sirius ran faster than all of them, he practically bounced towards the list. The list that told who had succeeded and who had failed the final exam. They would have thought Remus was the first person over there but turns out he was too anxious about the results to actually get over there. He had been dragging it out all day. The four guys were probably the last ones in their whole year to get the results.

"He kinda looks like a dog running" Peter whispered, and James snorted. Remus was walking behind them and somehow, he managed to hear it because he snorted as well.

"How can you tell that he runs like a dog?"

"Because dogs are always excited and kinda jumps when they run" Peter gestured to Sirius who had stopped running because he had reached the list. The others reached it too a second later.

James' grades were good. He was great at everything except history if magic which he really didn't care about, it's not the kind of subject he would actually use once in his future. It was only Sirius who had gotten good grades in it. Actually, Sirius had gotten the best grade in all the subjects. Remus was average and Peter hadn't got worst in _all_ classes.

"Congratulations Sirius" James patted Sirius on his back.

The other boy flinched and turned around, in a heartbeat he was marching down the hallway away from the others who were left to stare confused after him. James' mind was racing with reasons why Sirius had acted that way. He found one but hoped it wasn't it.

"Uhm... what was that about?" Peter decided to break the silence.

James ignored his question. "I'm gonna talk with him" he then ran after his best friend.

Sirius seemed to have disappeared completely. It was one of those times you could really use a map to guide you towards the missing person. Though James wasn't stupid. He knew where Sirius was... or where he could be. He headed outside to follow Sirius and was glad when he found him walking towards the lake.

"SIRIUS!" he yelled but Sirius didn't stop. James speeded up and quickly caught up with him. "Sirius, what's wrong? Why did you run off like that?" he asked worriedly. Sirius faced the other way, and James didn't like the way he flinched away from him.

"Nothing is wrong" Sirius lied.

"Come on. You can tell me" James laid his one arm around his friend.

Sirius hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath and telling James why he had become upset. "My grades are shitty."

"No, they are not! Sirius, you were the one with the best score in everything-"

"But I didn't get the best score in everything" he whined. "I got 97 percent in History of Magic and 98.3 percent in Potions. I only got 100 percent in Defence Against the Dark Arts and Astronomy. In everything else, I got around 94 percent" Sirius looked like he could fall apart.

"But... that's great. Isn't it?" James didn't know what else to say.

"Yeah it's _great_ , but it's not good enough. They are mad about me being a Gryffindor and I hoped if I got perfect grades, they wouldn't be so mad at me anymore" James thought that Sirius might start crying, but he didn't.

He wrapped his arms around Sirius without hesitation. "How can they still be mad about it? It's so long ago" his own parents weren't even mad at him for that long after he practically painted their whole living room scarlet and green.

"Because I broke tradition. And now I didn't fix it and they will continue to be mad at me" his voice had turned unnaturally cold. It gave James goosebumps.

"Hey Sirius, listen to me" James held his arms and stared into his eyes. "We'll figure it out, okay! I know we will" he had no idea how, but James knew he would help no matter what. They pulled each other into a hug. Sirius seemed to calm.

"Hi guys" Peter greeted carefully. "What is going on?"

James knew he probably shouldn't tell, because Sirius is the one to tell. It's just that this was the reason Remus wasn't feeling so welcome not long ago. The fact that James and Sirius keep running off by themselves all the time. But luckily James didn't have to worry.

"My parents are mad at me," Sirius told quietly.

"Why?" Remus asked just as quietly.

"Because my grades isn't good enough for them" he made a short hollow laugh. "But it doesn't matter. We got to prepare that prank for tonight" his before cold smile got replaced with a smirk.

...

They all laughed.

Sirius was glad something was finally taking his mind off his parents. In this moment he wasn't Sirius Orion Black the third, heir and oldest son of the Black family. He was simply Sirius. A boy who studied at Hogwarts and enjoyed hanging with his friends and planning pranks.

In this moment Peter wasn't lonely. He was surrounded by his friends and laughing his head off with them. No one was disappointed in him, no one yelled at him. They all just laughed.

Remus wasn't a werewolf in this moment. Or well, he was, but he didn't feel like one for the first in he didn't even know how long.

At this moment James couldn't be happier and sadder at the same time. He looked at his friends and sees the smiles, but he also know that it's summer break now and he won't be able to see them everyday and make sure that they are alright.

They all laughed at the feats dancing in front of their eyes. Remus, Peter, Sirius and James might have started it but it didn't take long before other students began to join in as well and now the whole great hall was filled with laughing students and a dancing feast.

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 **Nurgh this was the end of their first year. I can't believe we have already come this far, it's amazing. Can't wait for year two, I think we all know what happens then.**

 **Remember to review and stuff...**


	28. Summer holidays first year

**DISCLAIMER JK owes the wizarding world of Harry Potter and its characters.**

 **Last time: Remus saves James from detention because he is lacking a uniform after swimming in the lake. The others question a few things Remus has told them. Sirius doesn´t feel too good because he knows his parents will punish him for his grade. Their End of The Year prank was a success.**

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 **Summer holidays first year**

"Professor Casher wait!" Remus left his trunk and ran towards his Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. If you could still call her his professor. She wouldn´t join them next year anyway. Remus was about to walk towards Hogsmeade to take the Hogwarts express to platform 9 ¾ when he saw her.

"Remus?" Peter called from behind him.

He turned around. "Just a minute" and then turned to run towards Professor Casher. "Hi professor" he greeted politely.

"Hi Remus" she flashed her usual bright smile. "Don´t worry. I can call you that seeing as I´m no longer your professor. What did you want to talk about?"

Remus suddenly became embarrassed and looked down while he spoke. "I just wanted to thank you for our talk at the beginning of the year. It helped me a lot" he could almost feel her smile.

"It´s no trouble."

"And you are gonna work with… you know, the thing you told about" he checked.

Professor Casher smiled warmly. "Yeah I am, and if it goes well, we might meet each other again."

"That would be great."

She hadn´t ever told him what exactly she was working with, only that it was something that would make life easier for werewolves. He hadn´t ever heard of anything like that before. Usually, every time werewolves were mentioned in books or the Prophet it was bad things. That someone worked against all that and tried to make life easier sounded like a dream.

"Well… I better go" Remus told and gestured towards his friends who were all waiting.

"I´ll see you around," she said.

Remus turned around and ran towards his friends again. It felt so nice to call them his friends.

"TeachersPet" James coughed and then laughed. Remus rolled his eyes, but he laughed as well as Peter and Sirius. There really wasn´t much to say to that.

The trip towards platform 9 ¾ had been joyful for all four boys. They laughed and talked about the amazing prank they pulled the other day and agreed that they would try to find a day to hang out during the holidays. James and Sirius had tried to convince Peter and Remus to pull a prank on the train because they wouldn´t get punished.

Instead, they decided to try and come up with other pranks for their next year at Hogwarts. In only two months they would be back, and therefore had to come up with tons of pranks they could pull once there.

The trip was also slightly sad. They all knew that Sirius had some trouble with his family, and it might not have meant that much at Hogwarts, but now he had to face them again. Also, they wouldn´t see each other every day for two whole months.

James bought them Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans from the trolley. Peter shared a knowing look with Remus and knew that they would trick James and Sirius into eating the disgusting ones. They couldn´t hold the mask for long and was immediately exposed. Yet they did have a lot of fun before that. Neither James or Sirius could see what Remus apparently could see in the beans.

Even though it was hard, they managed to keep the atmosphere light until they reached the platform. The family they hadn´t seen since Christmas was waiting just outside, but the other family was in the train.

Remus was the first to leave. "I better go. I have to help my parents rebuild our house" he stated a bit awkwardly. "I´ll see you guys sometime," they all said goodbye to him.

Peter was the next to leave. He didn´t know if Karsyn was there, but he didn´t dare take the chance. If he was too long the man would just turn furious. "I better go too, my family is waiting," the last two said goodbye and then they were alone in the very compartment they also met in.

"Hey" James hit Sirius´ upper arm gently. "It´s gonna be alright. We are gonna meet soon enough."

"Hmm" Sirius dragged out the time because he really didn´t want to go out there, he didn´t even know if his parents were waiting. "I guess so" he stated but didn´t say goodbye. He didn´t want James to leave.

"I got a present for you" James quickly opened his trunk and found a little package that had already been opened. "My dad sent it to me not long ago. Open it" he handed the present to Sirius and watched with excitement as he opened it.

Sirius found two identical small mirrors. James took one of them. "It´s not normal mirrors. Look. Sirius Black" Sirius looked at his own mirror and saw James smile to him in it, he then looked up and saw the real James have an identical smile.

"A two way mirror" Sirius exclaimed and pulled James in for a hug. With this he and James would be able to see and speak to each other anytime they needed it. "This is amazing. Thank you, James" Sirius gently stroked the mirror, before placing it carefully in his own trunk.

Feeling slightly better Sirius walked out on the platform with James where James quickly said goodbye before heading towards his parents. Sirius looked around for his own and didn´t know if he should be relieved or not that he found his mother looking sour.

The four boys had separated.

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Peter missed all of his friends already and it had only been less than one week. He missed Hogwarts, he missed all the magic. There was nothing to do here. Peter spend most of his days waiting for replies to the letters he was sending. It would really be practical if the other´s had telephones.

After what might have been hours Peter heard a tap on his window, it was Remus´ family owl. He quickly let the owl in. After giving him the letter, it went over to drink some water and eat some food.

 _Hi again Peter_

 _You really shouldn´t do nothing all day, can´t you at least do some homework? That´s what I´m doing._

 _I can´t believe you are going to spend a whole week in Turkey. I have always wanted to try to come outside of England. Just know that I´m very jealous and_ beg _you to take some pictures and write about it._

 _I wish you could come over, but my house is still trash, and I can´t go to your place because I have to help my parents._

 _There is a lake right by our house I have been thinking of trying to jump in. Crossing fingers._

 _Our neighbours are quite nice to hang out with, at least they aren´t James and Sirius. I swear they never shut up, but I still miss both you and them terrible. Wish we could go back to school soon._

 _I might be able to visit later this summer; can you write to James and Sirius to suggest the idea?_

 _I hope to see you soon_

 _Remus_

Peter read the letter multiple times and imagined Remus was sitting right next to him and saying those words himself. He was about to scribble down an answer on a new piece of parchment when another owl flew in his window, it was James´ owl.

James was always the one to write fastest. Remus took forever because he had to help his parents with the house all the time. Sirius also took forever for some unknown reason. Peter took the letter from James´ owl and she joined Remus´ owl in drinking water and resting before being sent to fly again.

He replied to Remus letter first.

 _Hi Remus_

 _I don´t want to do homework, that´s what school is for._

 _You are very welcome to take my place in Turkey, I don´t want to spend a whole week alone down there. And I know you are probably making a look and thinking "beautiful and handsome Peter you won´t be alone because your siblings are there." I just wanna say that maybe they are there, but the three eldest are gonna hang out and the last one is only one year old._

 _But I will take pictures don´t worry._

 _I wish we could meet too, also all of us. Maybe we can hang out at Sirius´ or James´ place. I hope we can do it very soon._

 _It would be cool if you could overcome your fear. My fingers are crossed, and I believe in you. I´m glad to hear that your neighbours are cool._

 _I hope to see you soon too_

 _Peter_

Peter called Remus´ owl over to him and attached the letter, not long after it flew out of the window. He turned opened the letter from James.

 _Hey Pete_

 _Turkey sounds cool, but don´t forget the mashed potatoes and gravy._

 _My parents say you can come and hang out at my place for like a week at the end of the holiday, I have written to Remus too. Sirius will ask his parents when they are less mad._

 _Write back as soon as you can!_

 _Your awesome friend_

 _James_

 _(by the way, if Regnbue doesn´t want to fly, just stroke her wings and head a couple of times. She loves it)_

He rolled his eyes at James´ lame joke, even though he wasn´t sure if it was a joke or not. Purebloods are known for knowing very little about everything that has anything to do with muggles. Peter turned the parchment around and began to scribble down.

 _Hello James_

 _Don´t worry, Regnbue is very sweet._

 _Turkey is a country I´m visiting._

 _I´m going to Turkey at the end of the holidays, can we find a precise date that doesn´t intertwine with mine? I hope we all can be together._

 _Your awesomer friend_

 _Peter_

The owls were out, and Peter was again alone in his bedroom.

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Sirius expected to be slapped or punished as soon as he had apparated home with his mother, but nothing came, and it worried him. He had learned to not think too good of his parents, last time he had done that, he had been very wrong.

He went for his room. Grimmauld place felt so much darker than usual, maybe because he knew what might be about to come. The last time he hadn´t had the slightest idea what his father was capable of. This time Sirius would be prepared.

His room had been cleaned and it put him to ease, though he still didn´t dare to let himself believe they wouldn´t punish him. Sirius checked his drawer; the enchanted glass was still there. If anything did go completely wrong, at least he would have that.

Sirius laid down on his bed and was tempted to call James already, but he didn´t know if he should. He had _just_ come home after all. Sirius still couldn´t believe that James would give him something as special as a two way mirror.

There was a little knock on his door, his heart instantly started beating faster before he realized Regulus is the only person here who knocks on his door. "Come in" he called, and right after he saw his little brother after so long time.

He hadn´t before realized how much Regulus had actually grown. He was no longer ten, but eleven and would attend Hogwarts after the summer holidays. They would both be at Hogwarts. Sirius still hoped Regulus would turn out to be a Gryffindor like himself. It was so terribly selfish of him.

"Hi, Regulus. How are you doing?" he asked lightly.

Regulus didn´t seem happy. "Why didn´t you write to me?"

Sirius sighed. "You didn´t write to me either… I´m sorry but I couldn´t bring myself to it, you disappointed me when you didn´t stand up to me after what father did" his tone was cold.

"I was scared, and it´s not like you would have done the same for me" his younger brother accused.

He simply shook his head. "It hurts that you think so low of me. Don´t you think I would stand up for my own brother? I would have! I always will" his tone was harsher than it was meant.

Regulus was taken aback. "It doesn´t matter. We don´t have to stand up for each other because there is nothing to stand up too. You got what you deserved" his words felt like knives in Sirius´ heart.

"You don´t mean that!" he stated not even believing himself.

"Yes I do! How can you say such things about mudbloods? How can you be friends with a filthy blood traitor?"

"Don't call him that!" Sirius warned and raised himself from his bed. Unknowingly he clenched his fist.

"But that´s what he is!" he insisted. "A filthy blood traitor. I bet it´s his fault you ended in Gryffindor" Regulus didn´t miss the way Sirius hesitated. "I´m right, aren´t I? It´s his fault mother and father are mad at you, it´s his fault father did that to you-"

Sirius hadn´t planned to smack Regulus in the face. He just couldn´t stand the way his brother was talking about James. His friend James. James is too good for mean people, too good for anyone.

Regulus and Sirius both quit talking.

"I´m sorry," Regulus said after a couple of minutes in silence, then disappeared through the door.

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James was extremely happy to finally see his parents again, it felt like too long since the last time he had seen them, yet after a couple of days, he missed his friends. It´s not that he didn´t like his parents or something like that, it´s just that he can´t exactly play games or fly on a broomstick with them. He could do that with Remus, Peter and Sirius.

"Why don´t you just invite them over here?" Euphemia suggested.

He had written to both Peter and Remus. Instead of writing to Sirius he had simply used the mirror and talked to him, Sirius had informed James that his parents were slightly mad, so he would ask later.

Remus and Peter had written back, but it had been weeks and there still wasn´t a reply from Sirius. James had called daily to ask Sirius if he had asked them yet, but he replied the same thing every time. There had been three full days where Sirius hadn´t answered at all. James had even called more than one time to make sure everything was alright. Turns out Sirius had simply lost the mirror, but he quickly found it again.

It was one of the times he was in the living room that his dad joined him. They hadn´t had any alone time because his mom was always around, but right now she was cooking dinner and his dad had for once come home early from work.

"How are things going?" he had asked.

"Fine" James had replied.

"How are the mirrors I gave you? Has Sirius answered yet?"

James smiled. "The mirrors are amazing, and he hasn´t answered yet. He keeps saying he will do it later."

"You know there might be a chance he isn´t allowed to" Fleamont carefully told. James looked at him for the first time since their conversation started. His dad looked more tired than he usually did. Maybe it had something to do with the attack at the start of his first year. The ministry still hadn´t captured the guilty.

"I know" just because his own parents didn´t care who Sirius parents were and what they had done, it didn´t mean that Sirius´ parents felt the same about his own ones.

Fleamont quickly changed the subject. "How about the cloak? Got on any adventures that weren´t discovered?" the little smirk on his lips showed James that he wouldn´t be punished if he told.

"Not so many yet, but we think it will be much better when we grow older and learn more spells" James told smugly.

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The reason Sirius hadn´t been punished the day he arrived at Grimmauld place was simply because his father wasn´t home. Sirius was surprised to find only his mother and Regulus and supper. It wasn´t something he was used to see.

What was surprising as well -but not as surprising as his father´s disappearance- was the plate filled with food where Sirius usually sat. He had thought his parents would punish him for not getting the grades they wanted.

Another week went by without anyone mentioning what had happened. Sirius had constant vigilance because he never knew when something might happen. His father still hadn´t shown up and Sirius was afraid his mother only waited for him to return.

James had been asking if Sirius could come by the last week of summer to hang out with him and the others. Of course he wanted that. Sirius had tried to find the right time, but he was afraid that if he asked before he got his punishment, he wouldn´t be allowed to go as a punishment.

So he waited and patiently told James multiple times that he would ask later, and hoped the other boy didn´t get too annoyed.

After being back at Grimmauld place for a week and a half, Sirius found his father at the table in the kitchen. There was no plate at his seat, yet one of the house elves had asked him to come. Sirius quietly sat down and expected the worst.

Orion Black casually lifted his wand and pointed it at Sirius. Not a single sound could be heard in the kitchen. "This is for your dreadful grates" Orion´s cold voice echoed between the walls. "Crucio."

He felt backwards and screamed before he even hit the ground. Sirius had thought he was prepared for it, but he wasn´t. Nothing could ever prepare him for the pain there was washing over him in a wave of knives. It could have been going on for hours or seconds, he had no idea. All Sirius knew was that when it suddenly stopped, his entire body was on fire.

"Get up on your chair!" Orion spat as if it wasn´t him who had just pushed Sirius down. As if Sirius was some naughty kid who had left the chair simply because he couldn´t bother to follow the rules. Sirius carefully raised the chair and sat down on it while he tried not to vomit.

"Now tell me" his dreadful voice filled Sirius´ head with fear. What a Gryffindor he was. "What _exactly_ is your views on mudbloods?"

Sirius knew he could save himself and lie. He knew that and probably should have done it, but he had promised James he wouldn´t. Sirius was not one to break promises, and especially not one´s he had given one of his very best friends in the entire world.

"There is no difference between muggleborns and purebloods" he expected to be crucio'ed, but it didn´t come. Sirius could already taste the vomit in his mouth.

"Keep going" Orion´s voice was unreadable.

"Muggleborns and muggles deserve our respect. Our lives aren´t worth more than theirs. I would like to live in a world where Muggleborns aren´t looked bad upon, and where their families won´t get hurt because others don´t realize their worth-"

Orion suddenly raised himself from his chair. Sirius immediately stopped talking. He had been looking down the entire time and now realized tears were coming out of his eyes. Suddenly his father was right next to him and lifted his chin forcefully. Orion stared furiously at him for a few moments before slapping his cheek.

"Blacks don´t cry" Orion spat. Sirius held it in. Not because he wanted to, but it was what was expected of him and he would get punished if he acted otherwise. Sirius had never wanted to cry more in his life. "You get one more chance to take back what you just said," he ordered in a controlled angry voice.

"Never sir."

Orion didn´t even hesitate a second before he grabbed Sirius´ arm and forced him away from the table and into the kitchen. He wanted to look at Regulus for help, but he managed to not. Regulus wouldn´t help him and his mother certainly wouldn´t.

"Kreacher!" his father screamed just before they entered the kitchen. "Is the _thing_ ready?" his voice was almost gentler towards the house elf than his own son.

"Yes master. In the dungeon master" Kreacher quickly quipped.

Sirius didn´t like the sound of it. His father easily pulled him towards the dungeons. There was a small black chest in the middle of the room. Orion walked directly towards it.

"No" Sirius pleaded as a whisper. "No. Father, please! Father please no. Please" he tried to get away, but Orion only tightened his grip.

"Do you regret your words?" he hissed, and Sirius found himself unable to answer. Orion opened the chest with his wand and began to yank a fighting Sirius down in it who still begged for the mercy he would never get.

Sirius didn´t even care about the tears that were now streaming down his face and blinding him. All he knew as that _he could not_ be in that little box. But seeing as Sirius was only twelve and Orion was a full-grown man, it didn´t take long before he was down there in complete darkness.

The last thing he heard was 'silencio'.

For hours he kept crying for help and trying to open the chest in vain. Sirius was laying uncomfortable, he was hungry, thirsty and didn´t have any idea what time it was, but that wasn´t the worst part. It was the whispers.

Sirius was sure whoever it was, were in the box with him because his father has used Silencio on it. The only problem is that there is no room for somebody else. Once he tried to cover his ears because he just _needed_ the sounds to get out, Sirius realized that the whispers didn´t come from the box or anyone lying next to him. They came from _inside_ of his head.

To say it lightly he wanted to cut off his head to stop hearing it. He pressed harder against his ears, but it didn´t work. After a day he no longer had the power to do so, therefore he was doomed to listen to the creepy whispers for who knows how long without being able to do anything about it.

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The house looked just as bad as Remus remembered it to be. He had hoped his parents would have been able to fix most of it while he was gone. Turns out he shouldn´t have hoped for such thing, yet the insides were prettier. His own room looked like a normal room.

Remus had hoped he could get some time to relax after being so stressed out about the exams, but then he had to help them make the house more like home. The only breaks he got was when the others wrote to him. The thing is that he has to wait for them to reply before he can write back because his dad needs to use the family owl most of the time because of work.

Hope insisted that they used the day to work in the garden and the evening -or days when it rained- to work inside.

One day Remus collapsed on the grass. It had all finally been cut down. Remus was sweating all over his body, he wished he could take off his shirt, but his scars were ugly and he couldn´t bear anyone to see them. Not long after his mom came over with two glasses of lemonade with straws. He gladly accepted it.

"It´s gonna be great here" she assured. His parents had a thing for telling him that all the time.

"I know."

There was a couple of minutes in silence, the sun practically burned their skin. Remus kinda liked it.

"You haven´t really told me about Hogwarts yet" his mom smiled. "How is your friend Peter doing? And did you get good grades in the exams?" Remus appreciated that she cared.

"My grades were okay, could have been worse. I wanna read all our books as soon as I get the letter" he knows it´s kind of bookish and nerdy, but if he could read many of the books during the summer, then he didn´t have to do as much at Hogwarts which meant more time to hang out with his friends. "Peter is doing good, and I have made two new friends as well. James and Sirius. They are also good. I think."

"I´m glad you have made so many friends. Even though they make you get in trouble" she had a glint in her eye and Remus knew she referred to their Slime Prank earlier the same year. "Your dad told me that it was a quite impressive potion for a first year. How did you manage to do it?" she actually seemed interested.

"It´s James and Sirius, they are both really great at Potions. Sirius helped me after we became friends and now I´m a little better than before" once again Remus was glad, he decided to help Sirius feel better after whatever happened during the Christmas break.

"They sound like great friends" Hope smiled warmly.

"They are" Remus agreed. They are the best friends in the world, too good and too pure for him. Human unlike himself. Remus tried not to think about it, but sometimes it was hard.

….

"Sirius Black," James said to the mirror. It had been four weeks and he still hadn´t received an answer from Sirius. They had been talking so James knew the other boy was alright, he just couldn´t wait to meet again.

"Hi James" came the reply in the other end. James saw Sirius smiling in the mirror. "I´m gonna ask today, don´t worry" he looked slightly nervous, but also kind of happy.

"I have been thinking of something. Are your parents still mad?" the look on Sirius´ face gave him away. "If you want to, you can come here now or next week, then we´ll have like three weeks together. Remus and Peter will join us in the last one. We can shop in Diagonally and go to the platform together" James wore a hopeful expression. It could be really fun, and James honestly thought he would die of boredom soon.

Sirius also looked excited now. "That would be cool. I´m gonna ask right away. See you" he made a little awkward wave. Sirius thought it was best to ask while he still got the courage. James said goodbye as well and then he headed downstairs.

He could hear the whispers in the corners and speeded up.

Orion and Walburga were both sitting in the living room. His mother had an unnatural stiff back while she read a book. His father was reading the Daily Prophet yet his position wasn´t unnatural. The whole thing looked like a portrait.

"Sir?" he asked when none of them reacted on his presence.

His father looked up, and even though his mother didn´t Sirius knew she was listening.

"Yes. _Son_?" it seemed as if the words had a hard time coming out. That is the thing you can´t see in the portrait.

"My friend wants to know if I can go to his place before next week and stay for the rest of the holidays" he held his breath as he waited for the answer.

Orion raised his wand and Sirius was afraid he would get punished for asking. He tried to not look scared. His father didn´t point his wand at Sirius though. "Avis" a single bird flew from his wand. "You have one try. Hit it with Immobulus and you can go" Orion looked down again as if he expected that Sirius wouldn´t be able to do it.

Sirius lifted his wand and aimed at the bird, but it kept moving around. He didn´t want to wait too long before doing it. Sirius thought of the words Remus had uttered to Peter when he tried to help him with the dancing charm. _Just breathe. Imagine what the spell will do, and then do it_. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, through his nostrils and out through his mouth. Then opened his mouth and uttered: "Immobulus."

He heard a little squeak and then the bird was gone. Orion looked disbelieving up to where it had disappeared, he then turned to the Prophet again as if he didn´t care and wasn´t impressed. "You can go tomorrow morning" he granted. "Go to your room and pack."

Sirius almost couldn´t hold back the smile. "Thank you, sir," he quickly said in a cold neutral voice, but as soon as he turned around his face broke into a huge grin. Sirius then hurried towards his room -away from the whispers- to tell James the great news.

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 **I wrote the first 3k words in a couple of hours, but it didn´t feel complete, so I had to write some more, otherwise, this would have been out two days ago. It´s long but I don´t think you mind.**

 **I can´t believe that start their second year already.**

 **Please review and tell me your thoughts!**


	29. Life at the Potters

**I think y'all know JK owes the characters**

 **Last time: the four boys take the Hogwarts express to platform 9 ¾ like the rest of the school. They all have different experiences during the holidays, some more pleasant than others. Sirius goes to visit James. Remus and Peter will join later.**

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 **Life at the Potters**

James waited impatiently for Sirius to show up. They had agreed that he would come the day after they talked, yet it was already almost eleven. When would he show up? It was really hot outside and James would probably be dying of heat if it wasn´t because his parents were sorcerers and able to cool the house down with magic.

It took a while before someone finally came out of the fireplace. Sirius was completely covered in ashes and looked extremely out of place. Their home didn´t completely look like a wizard house. Something like Hogwarts had lots of little things that gave it away. Their house had it too, just less. But Sirius was dressed in long black wizard robes that so didn´t fit with the hot weather outside.

However, Sirius appeared oblivious to this as he went in for a hug. Though when they broke apart and had had time to look around, it seemed as if Sirius noticed how little he fit in with wizards' robes. James himself was simply wearing blue shorts and a bright yellow shirt.

"Hi. Welcome to my house" James gestured with both his arms. He didn´t know how Sirius lived, yet guessed it was very different, but hoped Sirius liked his house anyways.

"Hi. It´s very nice here" he commented. "Nothing like Grimmauld. I like it" this house really is very different from what he is used to, but different in a good way. Sirius had never visited anyone but his family, and they all liked to keep the same dark style.

"We should get your trunk in my room" James stated, happy that Sirius was finally here. "I´m just gonna tell my parents you are here first" he led Sirius outside where his parents were laying in the shadow. His mom was wearing her favourite flowered dress while his dad was only wearing shorts. Sirius seemed to be startled by the view.

"Hi mom and dad, Sirius is here" he gestured towards Sirius who looked like he wanted to crawl into a little hole. It also seemed as if he had started sweating.

"Good morning Mr and Mrs Potter" Sirius greeted politely.

"Just call me Euphemia, and him Fleamont" his mom quickly said and Fleamont smiled. "It´s nice to meet you, Sirius. Aren´t you sweating? Don´t you have some summer clothes?" she asked and smiled warmly. James was happy they didn´t judge him for his last name and instead made him feel welcome.

"No, ma'am… I mean Euphemia" his fists were nervously opening and closing over and over again.

"I´m sure you can borrow some from James" she hinted.

"Of course" he exclaimed. "Come Sirius. Then we can also carry your trunk to my room" James would have said he dragged Sirius away from there, but it might have been the other way around.

"There is some lemonade in the refrigerator" his dad called just before they entered the house again. They were immediately cooled down.

Sirius quickly went for his trunk and followed James upstairs into his bedroom. It was weird how different their houses were. Where everything in Grimmauld place was dark, everything here seemed light. Also, he was used to narrow hallways instead of wide ones. James´ room was also a lot bigger than his own one and actually contained two four-poster beds.

"I got another pair of blue shorts of you prefer that" James opened his drawer. "What colour shirt do you prefer? I got lot´s of different ones" he gestured to where all his shirts were neatly folded due to his mom.

"Uhh, the green one I think" Sirius awkwardly stated. James got out the bright green shirt and his dark blue shorts. Sirius hesitantly grabbed them. "Can you… uhh, turn around."

"Yeah" James turned around and patiently waited for Sirius to get dressed, it didn´t take very long and soon they were facing each other again. "Looks good" he stated awkwardly.

Sirius huffed. "Of course it looks good. It´s on me" he joked.

James laughed. "It´s so good to see you again," he told truthfully. A month without seeing one of his best friends is too much. "I hope you are okay with sleeping in the same room as me, it´s either this or a smaller room in the other end of the house. Seeing as we are dormmates, I didn´t think it would be a problem.

"It´s not a problem" Sirius quickly assured, he would much rather sleep in the same room as James. "Can we try some of that lemonade thing?" he asked excitedly.

"Let me guess; you haven´t tried lemonade before?" James asked as he leads the way to the kitchen.

"Once gotta be the first time" he replied and smiled.

….

Sirius quickly learned that the life with the Potters was very much different than the life with the Blacks. Not only were the houses different, but all the people inside also was. The Potters talked really much during meals, even James was allowed to talk. He and James could also sleep for as long as they wanted in the mornings.

They didn´t have to ask for permission to walk outside, they simply had to tell. Euphemia or Fleamont cooked at every meal, they didn´t have house elves. James even had chores to do, which they gave him pocket money for. Euphemia decided that he should get pocket money too. Sirius didn´t feel much like a guest there, but more like a member of the family.

He couldn´t remember the last time his own mother had laughed, yet it seemed as if James´ did it every day. His own father would _never_ walk around without a shirt on, but Fleamont did it all the time. Although he was sure to always have it close to him if the ministry needed him.

Sirius also made a great discovery. James didn´t get beaten if he did anything he wasn´t allowed to, and certainly not for minor things. The only thing that made sense was that it´s not normal to be beaten for breaking rules, also seeing as neither of the other Gryffindors in his year has scars or marks.

The only person he hadn´t seen without clothes was Remus.

He didn´t know what to do with the information and therefore decided to do nothing.

They had also been practising Quidditch a lot. They took turns using James´ old and new broom. James was old enough to join the team this year, so of course he needed to practice to make sure he would get in. He tried a lot of different positions to find out which one he liked the most. So far, he liked chaser the most, yet was really good at being a seeker.

"You can just try out for both. Last year they tried out for one position, then the next and so on. They will probably do that again" Sirius said reasonably.

"I just feel like I have to choose" James mumbled. He fiddled with the grass but didn´t pull any of it up seeing as it would make him mom mad. The two boys were laying on the grass as they had just finished practising Quidditch.

"Maybe you don´t have to choose. There might be someone else who is a way better seeker than you, and then you will just be chaser" he calmed. Sirius really liked the freedom here, he could do almost as he pleased.

"I suppose so" James stated and was actually more nervous he wouldn´t even make the team at all.

….

The next morning the two boys were met with owls as they ate breakfast. Both quickly stopped eating to read the letter from Hogwarts. The letter contained a list of their new supplies and a note saying they were allowed to bring a broomstick as they could join the Quidditch team.

Both of them was wearing pyjamas with little snitches on them. Sirius liked how chill it was here.

"What do you say we go to Diagon Alley today?" Euphemia offered smiling. "I know it´s raining, but they say it will only get worse, so we better just get over with."

James agreed. If he couldn´t play Quidditch might just as well do something else useful.

"But what about my things?" Sirius asked suddenly, he hadn´t thought about how he would get his new books. Did he have to go back to get them? Because he really didn´t want that.

"Don´t worry" Euphemia quickly assured. "Why don´t you write to them and ask? Perhaps they could just send the money" she offered. Sirius liked how she could handle everything that easily and how she didn´t freak out on him all the time.

"Yeah that sounds-" he began but was cut off by a bang. They all stared at Kreacher who was standing in the middle of the kitchen with lots of books, quills, robes and other supplies. He flinched, Sirius didn´t want the Potters to think he was the kind of person who had house elves.

"Master Sirius…" he flinched again. Kreacher looked really out of place here, and Sirius wanted him gone as quickly as possible. "…your books and necessary supplies" Kreacher announced.

"Yes. Thank you Kreacher" he quickly said and hoped he would go away soon.

But it didn´t seem as if the house elf was done. "A letter from master Regulus," he said, and a letter appeared in front of Sirius. With another bang, Kreacher was gone.

Sirius was afraid of what Euphemia would say now, but he shouldn´t have been.

"Well, now we got that problem fixed" she smiled. "Who is Regulus?

"My brother," he told and then opened the letter.

 _Dear Sirius._

 _Can´t you come back for the last day of the holidays? I really want to go to the platform with you. If not, then I guess I´ll just see you there._

 _I can´t wait to be at Hogwarts._

 _It makes me sad that we don´t talk anymore. Please write back to me!_

 _Your brother_

 _Regulus_

Sirius simply stared at it for a while. Regulus had had his chances to show just what Sirius meant to him, both times he had failed. He _could_ go back and fix things with his brother, but he didn´t want to. Regulus should be the one to fix things. He hadn´t even said sorry.

"What does it say?" James asked worried, even though he tried to hide it. If Sirius wasn´t on the good side of his family, maybe the same thing concerns his brother.

"Just that he misses me and can´t wait to see me at Hogwarts" Sirius replied without missing a heartbeat. He wasn´t technically lying.

"He sounds nice" Euphemia stated. "We better get ready for Diagon Alley."

"Come Sirius" James raised himself from the table. The boys had to take on some clothes, they couldn´t go to Diagonally in only Pajamas. Sirius quickly took the last bite and was about to follow James when Euphemia stopped them.

"Remember to bring your wands" she warned. Her happy tone was replaced with a more serious one.

They stared confused at her. "But we are not allowed to use it out of school" James stated sending Sirius a look. He hadn´t misunderstood something? Because then surely he would have used _tons_ of magic earlier.

"You never know," her expression said nothing. But then suddenly her smile was back. "Hurry up you two."

….

James and Sirius were sharing an umbrella while Euphemia had her own. They had only just stepped outside but already dreamt of going inside again. Their umbrella didn´t help much as the boys were running towards Flourish and Blotts to get new books for James. His mom was going to other places for some of the other things.

When they were finally inside, the two boys were practically soaking.

"What new books do you need?" Sirius asked. He hadn´t really looked through the list.

"Uhh… The Standard Book of Spells, Grade two and Lupine Lawlessness" James read on the list. "It shouldn´t take long, so we can go towards Eeylops Owl Emporium and meet my mom there" he began to look at the shelves. His mom would go there because they needed more feed for their owls.

"But your mom told us to wait here" Sirius quipped. He didn´t want to make Euphemia mad when she had been so nice to him.

"It will save her for the trip over here" he argued and found the first book. James looked around for the second book. He spotted it on a shelf on the other side of the store and walked over there. "Now we just gotta pay" he walked towards the cashier, paid, and got ready to leave. Though Sirius didn´t.

"Don´t you think it´s better if we just stay? We could walk right past her and wouldn´t notice" he stated hoping James would give in so they didn´t have to get out in the rain.

"If we hurry, we get there before she does," James said and walked outside with the umbrella. Sirius unwillingly followed.

Sirius made sure to look at everyone who passed them to see if any of them was James´ mom. They weren´t out for long before a loud bang and some shiny lights appeared on the sky in front of them. James and Sirius stared at it for a moment before they noticed people were running away from there.

James suddenly felt something was very wrong. It seemed as if Sirius had the same feeling because on the same time they started sprinting not caring about the rain hitting them.

The two boys ran as fast as they could, but fate had it that Sirius would slip. James quickly turned around. He spotted dark figures without faces walking towards them. They were sneering and shooting spells all over the place.

James grabbed Sirius and intended to drag them both to safety. But Sirius stopped him and pointed towards something. "There´s a girl" he yelled. Without a word, they both quickly ran towards the crying girl. James easily scooped her up and ran with Sirius towards an alley.

They weren´t visible to whoever was causing disorder. All three of them was shaking. As the hooded figures came closer, they heard not only sneers but also a terrified scream. James held tighter around the girl and Sirius also scooted nearer.

Their hearts were beating like crazy.

A big loud scream could be heard. James couldn´t make out the words, but Sirius could, and he froze. They all saw the green light but only Sirius knew what it meant. He suddenly needed to vomit. Then there was utter silence. Only the sound of the rain falling down could be heard.

There was another loud scream. A terrified and sad one.

"OLIVE?!" two voices screeched. The girl looked up. Her before blank eyes now filled with hope. Sirius and James looked quickly at each other before walking the girl -apparently named Olive- up towards her parents.

Once they were visible two woman quickly ran towards Olive and embraced her. Their eyes were red from tears and they looked as if they had been about to die, but didn´t.

They showered her with kisses and apologizes and words of relief before Olive got out of their grip. "They saved me" she pointed at James and Sirius who suddenly turned to look embarrassed.

The two women quickly turned to thank them, and they simply brushed it off as no big deal. Olive and her parents said goodbye after another thank you and disappeared towards the Leaky Cauldron.

Sirius looked towards the place the hooded figures last were. A bunch of people were gathered around something and suddenly the rain seemed very fitting. Slowly they moved away from the street. A crying man and woman behind.

"Sirius?! James?!" they turned to see Euphemia running down the streets. Her face was bewildered and worried. She kept screaming their names.

"Mom?" James called back.

His mom saw them and quick as lightning she was right in front of the boys and embracing them both. She was panting and they couldn´t know if it was sweat or rain on her forehead. "I´m so glad you are both okay" she cried. " _I told you to stay in the shop_ " Euphemia demanded her voice suddenly very stern.

James and Sirius looked down.

"Sorry mom" James mumbled. "I just thought we could home quicker if we met you at Eeylops Owl Emporium…" he was ashamed and wished that he had done what Sirius asked and stayed. On the other hand, then they wouldn´t have found Olive, and then she might have been hurt.

"James saved a little girl" Sirius blurted out. He didn´t like that James got all the blame. "If we hadn´t gone, she might have… might have… might" he couldn´t finish and suddenly needed to vomit again. Euphemia pulled him in for a hug and led the boys towards a little shop to get away from the rain.

Both James and Sirius were shaking wildly. "It´s okay now" she comforted and gave another hug. "I think it´s time for some hot cocoa."

….

"REMUS!" the tiny boy was practically tackled by three other boys when he walked out from the fireplace. A moment ago, he had been at his own house and said goodbye to his parents, and in the next moment he was in a strange house and tackled by his three best friends.

"Boys! Give him some space" Euphemia demanded. Sirius, James and Peter quickly let go of Remus and James´ mom cleaned him with her wand. "You came just in time for dinner. Why don´t you all get his trunk to James´ room and the come down again and eat?"

Remus decided he liked her. Just like Sirius and Peter. James was relieved.

"Then we can play exploding snap after" James suggested. He and Sirius grabbed Remus´ trunk and lifted it upstairs.

After their visit to Diagon Alley, the atmosphere in the house had been very tense and sad, but the boys couldn´t concentrate on that anymore. The four pranksters were together again, and that can only be good.

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 **It made me so happy to write this (except the part in Diagon Alley) and I hope you guys enjoyed it.**

 **Be sure to review to make me happy! :D :D**


	30. The new Professor

**DISCLAIMER JK Rowling owes the wizarding world of Harry Potter**

 **Last time: Sirius enjoys life with the Potters, Regulus writes him a letter which he ignores. Some hooded figures attack Diagon Alley, and the boys saved a little girl. Remus and Peter finally join, and they are happy to be reunited.**

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 **The new Professor**

"Bell-Pettigrew, Taliyah" an average height chubby girl walked towards the sorting hat. Her hair was short, golden and tangled. The last name made four boys look up. Peter knew she was coming, but he hadn´t told the others. James and Sirius looked at him with curiosity in their eyes. They didn´t know Peter had a sister.

It didn´t take long before the hat announced Ravenclaw and the girl made her way down there.

"I didn´t know you had a sister" James whispered as Iyla Bender was called by Professor McGonagall.

"She is really ugly" Sirius added.

Peter hit him and send a mad look. "You can´t say that" he hissed as the hat announced Gryffindor to the girl from before. She was tiny like Remus and had long black hair. Iyla Bender didn´t look like any other girl with her yellow-brown skin and dark eyes.

Sirius simply send an apologetic look right before McGonagall called Regulus. He stared as his brother strutted towards the hat and placed it on his head. Sirius shouldn´t have been surprised that the hat announced Slytherin to him but he couldn´t help but be disappointed. Nevertheless, he managed to send Regulus a little smile.

James patted Sirius gently on his back which Sirius returned with a wry smile.

Neither of the boys payed attention to the sorting after that. There weren´t any people they knew, therefore it didn´t matter.

After the sorting Dumbledore had a few words and introduced the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor before the dinner appeared. James happily noted that all of his friends were eating, even though he probably shouldn´t worry about Peter eating too little. He was happy to see that Sirius ate and talked with all of them. Those weeks at his house had been wonderful for the other boy.

They managed to come up with tons of ideas for pranks, but then Remus came and said they weren´t possible. Sirius and James unwillingly agreed, yet they saved the ideas for later, maybe when their skills got better, they could perform better pranks.

James and Sirius also pulled lots of pranks on James´ parents. Sirius really liked Fleamont and Euphemia, they weren´t anything like his own parents, they were way more fun. Fleamont simply laughed at their pranks when they pulled them, and even once helped them prank Euphemia. She got mad (but it was hard for her to hide a smile) and made them clean up after supper _without_ magic.

It was a punishment like none other because Sirius actually and truly believed it was fair. They had very innocently put some colour-stuff in her shampoo, so when she got out of the shower her hair was green and blue. Sirius couldn´t forget her horrified scream and her face moments after when she came out and began chasing him and James (for fun) around the house. He had half-expected to get beaten (the Potters seem so great it feels unrealistic) but she only hugged them and said they would have to clean up after supper.

The prank was harmless because the colour would wash away with another shampoo. Once they told her that she began laughing and could see the fun in it. Walburga Black would never be able to do that.

Sirius hoped he could visit James next summer too, even if it meant he wouldn´t be seeing Regulus that much. He probably wouldn´t anyway be seeing his brother anyways as he would most likely be punished for something and then forced spend the whole holiday in his room.

All students in the Great Hall finished dinner and dessert. Prefects made first years follow them towards the common room. The four boys walked there with the rest of the Gryffindors. Almost all Gryffindors were tired from eating such a delicious meal, therefore, they headed for their respective dorms. So did the boys, but instead of saying 'first years' their door now said 'second years'.

James threw himself on his bed from last year.

"It feels so good to be back" he exclaimed.

"Agreed!" Sirius laughed and laid down as well. He could sleep for about a hundred years. Staying with James was great, but he used a lot more energy with him than at Grimmauld.

"I love this four-poster bed" Remus mumbled. His head was buried into some pillows and it looked as if he was already sleeping. This bed was way more comfortable than his own one. He had the same robes from last year, and they actually fit a little better now. Remus had thought he wouldn't be much smaller than the others now, but they had grown as well.

"You are lucky" Peter stated. "With your size, it feels bigger" he caused James and Sirius to laugh. Remus simply sighed loudly and buried himself deeper into the pillows.

"Remus you need to take your robes off," James told.

"And tomorrow I'll take it on again, what's the point?" he mumbled.

"Then we'll just take it off for you" Sirius joked, but Remus didn´t think it was a joke. He jerked up before seeing the confused expression on his friends' faces. Remus blushed and mumbled something about doing it himself before disappearing to the bathroom.

The three remaining boys stared confusedly at each other. Now Sirius was definitely sure there was something about Remus' body. And he had almost just been with his parents, maybe there was a big scar on his body that hadn't healed yet.

Remus came out again dressed in his pyjamas and laid down on his bed again under the duvet this time.

"How did it go with facing your fear?" Peter asked lightly to avoid any awkward silence.

James and Sirius shared an equally shocked expression. "Uhh… it was okay, I got my feet into the water, and… that's a start" he fiddled with his sleeve. The truth is that he even had his whole head under. His neighbours were quite fun, and Remus actually believed he could be friends with them. To some level at least seeing as he would only spend time with them during holidays.

"Are you ready for the water slide then?" James asked excitedly. He had seen a Muggle playground before and there was a thing seemingly called a slide. James got the brilliant idea of combining it with water, so it was a water slide, but that was apparently already a thing. Still, he liked the idea.

Remus shook his head. "But I have an idea that would make it possible to slide down staircases" he offered and caught everyone's interest immediately. "I thought we could turn all stairs into slides, but it might be too much work. Instead, we could pick some stairs."

"What if we make half of a staircase a slide? Then students can get to class quicker, but still get up" Peter suggested. If it was a fun prank that wouldn't ruin anything, they might skip trouble.

"OR" Sirius had a wicked grin on his face. "If we could make a reverse slide, they could slide both up _and_ down" he loved making ideas for pranks. It was almost his favourite part. The best part is with no doubt when he can see it work.

"Is that possible?" James eagerly asked Remus, but it was Sirius who answered.

"Of course it is! We are sorcerous" he exclaimed.

They decided to work on the prank tomorrow seeing as classes wouldn't start before Monday anyway. Peter, James and Sirius got changed and snuggled under their duvets, all four of the boys were happy about finally being back at Hogwarts. Their crimson room turned dark as the sun set and they got ready to sleep.

"What do you think of Professor Eckbird?" Peter asked into the room.

Eckbird was their new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor whom Dumbledore had introduced earlier. Their professor was very old and very grumpy. It didn´t seem as if he liked children at all. Remus especially had a bad feeling about their new Professor seeing as he was the one who had them buy the book Lupine Lawlessness.

"Doesn't seem too nice. Hopefully better than Casher" Sirius commented.

"She was nice" Remus mumbled feeling the need to defend her after she was so nice to him last year.

James snorted. "Of course you think so. You were her favourite!"

Unknowingly to the others, Remus blushed. "Was not."

"Was so" Peter joined in. It was obvious to anyone that she favoured him, always gave him points for things others did as well. She was always nicer and patient with him. Sometimes she could spend almost the entire class helping him when Peter was right beside him and struggled more. "Even someone blind could have seen it."

All the boys chuckled.

"I don't know how anyone would be able not to like you" James declared.

Remus didn't answer. He could easily think of a reason.

….

They were all well rested and ready to plan a prank. While seeing and getting an idea for a prank is with no doubt the funniest part, planning it wasn't. It was the moment you would have to find out how to make it real. James and Sirius were the most confident it would work, if sorcerers can't do it, then who can?

Even though Remus and Peter were more sceptical they spend the whole Saturday in the library to find the spells. At supper, all of them had lost the good mood. They had found a slide spell, which seemed to work, but they couldn't find an easy anti-gravity spell.

"I can't believe we spend the entire day in the library" James groaned.

"I bet Remus doesn't mind" Sirius joked and caused Remus to stick his tongue out.

"Mjah I'm used to it," Peter told. "Remus wanted to spend every waken moment in the library last year" and he wasn't even lying. When he wasn't eating, sleeping or visiting his mom, you would always be able to find Remus in the library,

Sirius and James snickered, they could easily imagine Remus spending all his time in here.

"Yeah and by the way, do we still have study-Sunday?" Remus asked looking up from the book he had previously been buried in.

"School hasn't started yet, there isn't anything to study" James declared.

"There are lots of things to study!" Remus disagreed. "If I don't start now, I'll just get behind when I have to visit my mom."

"Then don't visit her" Sirius quickly offered. "You don't have to visit that often if it stresses you out." The truth is that Sirius never wanted Remus to visit if his suspicions were right.

Remus looked down. "It's not that simple" came the mumbled reply.

Sirius decided that he had to speak to James and Peter about Remus. There had always been something weird about the other boy, and even though he had been determined to figure it out last year, he hadn't. He was once again determined to find out what it was because his friend didn't like showing his body, he visited his parents every month and always came back hurt. Remus was good at hiding it, but Sirius had noticed limping, plus the story with his scar didn't make any sense.

He got his way not long after when Remus wanted to reunite with the library not long after supper while the other boys would rather hang out in the common room. Sirius made them sit away from most of the students to talk.

"I think someone is hurting Remus" he spilt to gain their attention.

"We'll hex them" James stated automatically.

"Not students. His parents" he exclaimed. "Remus doesn't want us to see his body -he freaks out every time we are close- which could mean he has scars. And whenever he comes back after visiting his mom, he draws away from us, sometimes he is limping. Also, the story with the scar and the cat doesn't make any sense, I don't think a cat hurt him…"

Both Peter and James didn't reply as they were thinking about it.

"It's probably nothing," James said after a while. "If anyone was hurting him, he would tell us. We are his friends."

"Would you tell?" Peter asked quietly. He had never spoken to anyone about what Karsyn had done to him. Not that he had scars on his body like Remus, but still.

James was about to speak, but then he closed his mouth. Unknowingly he made Sirius feel bad. If James would have told him then maybe he can tell James, but apparently not.

"We'll make sure he knows he can come to us," James said after a moment of silence. "Or one of us can come to him about something similar, maybe he then feels he can tell."

The others who had unnoticeably gone a little paler nodded.

….

Remus' friends had been oddly assuring the past few days. They kept telling him that he could come to them no matter what, he feared they knew about him, but if they knew they wouldn't have assured him such a thing. They would have him kicked out of Hogwarts and reported to the Ministry.

Instead of telling them his secret, he just smiled and told them he knew. What else should reply?

Also, he had other things to worry about as school had started. They started Monday morning with History of Magic, Remus had gotten new quills by his parents and were a hundred percent ready to take notes and get a better grade in the final exam than last year.

After History of Magic with the boring Professor Binns, they had dinner before Transfiguration. There they heard the basics on Reparifarge (which undo transfigurations) before trying a bit themselves. Sirius already mastered it, and he helped Remus which he was very grateful for. James also did it at the end of the class.

They ended up in the library to both study for school and the prank. If only James and Sirius cared as much about school as pranks, they would… okay, they almost couldn't get better grades anyways.

The boys had supper before heading for Astronomy. Usually, they would look at the sky, but tonight it was raining far too much. Therefore, they studied pictures instead and learned constellations they would look at in the sky the next time.

Everything went well until they reached Tuesday.

Someone had thought it was great to put Potions and Flying on the same day. This meant the Dungeons would be cold and they would be flying in the rain which just caused flying to be worse. Though the thing Remus dreaded the most was Defence Against the Dark arts.

In Potions, they started out with reviewing the Herbicide Potion from last year, yet both Remus and Peter managed to screw it up. Slughorn took five points from each seeing as they should have been able to do it blindfolded. He took another ten points because James and Sirius complained about it.

They had dinner in the warm (and dry) Great Hall before being forced out to fly on broomsticks. Madam Hooch thought they had to learn flying when it's raining, both for the future Quidditch players, but also because you might find yourself in a situation where it could be necessary to have learned beforehand.

Remus sulked, but James was quite happy about it. Almost all the Quidditch matches last year had been held while it was raining.

Finally, the subject Remus had been dreading the most arrived. Defence Against the Dark Arts. It might have been his absolute favourite subject last year, but Remus didn't like their new teacher from what he had seen.

All the Gryffindors were wet cause of the rain. Professor Eckbird was already in the classroom when they arrived.

"You are all late" he sneered when the last students entered. "Twenty Points from Gryffindor. And don't let it happen again." Not a single student said anything, but Sirius raised his arm in the air. Professor Eckbird stared at him for a long moment. "Black!"

The whole room seemed darker than usual because the curtains were closed. It made Professor Eckbird seem darker and scarier. Professor Casher had lifted the tense Atmosphere in the room with light, while she still talked about very serious things and taught them a lot.

"It's only two minutes Sir, and we came just from Flying Class. If we could have come faster, we would" he replied politely.

Eckbird stared at him for a long moment again. "Ten points to Gryffindor" he announced.

"Thank you, Sir-"

"Quiet" the grumpy man cut him off. Sirius shut his mouth immediately. "You have already used three minutes of class now, therefore I will take three extras in the other end." All the students sighed.

He knocked his hand on the table and everybody shut their mouths again.

"Does everybody have the book 'Lupine Lawlessness: Why Lycanthropes Don't Deserve to Live' as I asked you to?" he asked dangerously. All students nodded and a few mumbled yes. "Can anyone tell me what a Lycanthrope is?" it didn't seem as he thought so.

Sirius raised his arm along with Lily Evans and a few others which made Remus feel sick.

Eckbird picked Sirius again.

"A Lycanthrope is another word for werewolf sir," he told knowingly. "A werewolf is a human who transforms into a werewolf every month at full moon." Why did Sirius have to know everything?

"Correct!" Eckbird exclaimed. "Except they are not human! Werewolves are murderous beasts who only want to kill! Even when it takes human-form it keep werewolf features, werewolves eat raw meat, have yellow eyes and higher senses than _real_ humans. Every werewolf's goal is to kill and spread its curse" he took a moment to look all of them into their eyes. Remus concentrated on writing down notes.

"Sadly you won't come around that before next year, though I will recommend you all to look through the book. It contains ways to recognise a werewolf, this book could save your life!"

Professor Eckbird continued to rant about dark creatures, dark spells and why every wizard must learn to defend themselves from all of that. Remus tried really hard to make himself invisible and not look too guilty. For the first time he was happy the room was so dark, otherwise, someone might have noticed his expression.

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 **Poor Remus.**

 **Remember to review everyone!**


	31. Fighting

**DISCLAIMER JK Rowling owes the wizarding world of Harry Potter**

 **Last time: the four boys are back at Hogwarts so naturally the first thing they do is plan a prank. James, Sirius and Peter are worried about someone hurting Remus. Remus is worried about their new Professor who apparently doesn't like werewolves.**

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 **Fighting**

Sirius was sitting alone in the library very late because he had gotten an owl that morning. It wasn't a black owl like the ones he usually received from his brother. He had borrowed James' invisibility cloak just in case it was a trick from any slimy Slytherins.

Though Sirius was relieved when Regulus walked over to the corner, he had asked Sirius to meet him at. Sirius took off the cloak and sat down next to his brother without a word. He could feel Regulus' intense stare.

"How long are you gonna keep ignoring me?" his little brother finally asked.

"Until you say sorry" Sirius demanded.

Regulus sighed. "Sorry."

"You don't mean it" Sirius stated firmly and crossed his arms.

"You didn't tell me to mean it" Regulus fired back. They were both silent, Sirius was too stubborn to talk to his brother after what he did - or didn't do. Brothers are always supposed to be there for each other, he is the friend who will never leave you. "Please Sirius. I missed you when you were with Potter, and it hurt when you didn't reply to my letter."

"Oh," Sirius exclaimed offended. "Did it hurt when I ignored your letter? I'm so sorry, it's probably _so_ much worse than Cruciatus Curse!" he hissed. Regulus bit his lip, but Sirius ignored it. If his brother wasn't here to apologize, then he didn't want to be here either. He raised himself.

"No please! Don't go!" Regulus pleaded.

"Then apologize" he exclaimed.

Regulus bit his lip but didn't answer. Sirius decided he couldn't deal with this. They used to be such great friends, but now everything was ruined.

"If you change your mind, you know where to find me," he said in a controlled voice and quickly turned around before Regulus could see the tears. When had he become such a softie? He wiped away the few tears that had escaped and quickly walked back to the Gryffindor common room and then his dorm.

Only Remus was awake. Peter was snoring loudly while James was snoring lightly. Remus was sitting on his bed with Lumos cast and a book in front of him, he looked up as Sirius carefully entered the room.

He noticed Sirius' expression. "Need a hug?" Remus opened his arms to offer it, the other boy nodded and gladly accepted. Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus and leaned him backwards, so they were laying down. He then snuggled closer. On the other hand, Remus had let go because he was so confused. "What are you doing?" he whispered.

"Hugging you" Sirius replied.

"You are cold!"

"You are warm."

Remus rolled his eyes and decided not to question Sirius further. After all his friend often did weird things without explanation, but when they had been laying like that for five minutes, he figured it was time.

"How did it go?"

Sirius sighed loudly to drag the time out. "You know how I'm not on good terms with my family and we had this big argument at Christmas last year?"

"Yes…"

"Well…" Sirius sighed again. "Regulus -my brother- took their side, even though I think he should have taken my side, and I won't speak to him before he apologizes, but he refuses to."

Remus thought for a little while. "Are you sure he should take your side? Is there any good reason he shouldn't?" he asked carefully and stroked Sirius' back as he thought his words would upset the other boy.

Sirius simply snorted. "Yes, I'm sure" though he could see why Regulus didn't want to. It wouldn't help him if Regulus got hurt, but on the other hand, he should have tried to do something for his brother. Sirius clearly had the wrong idea about what a family should be to you.

They were silent. Sirius didn't want to let go of Remus but knew it was about time. After just a little longer he finally let go and both boys sat up again.

"Why are you up this late anyway?" he asked.

"I'm doing homework" Remus gestured to the book.

"Why are you doing homework?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"Why?"

Remus shrugged his shoulders. _Because the man who gave me the greatest opportunity of my life apparently doesn't like me seeing as he is hiring a teacher who hates my species._ "I don't know. Just can't."

Sirius studied his face for a moment. "We'll go to the Hospital Wing to get some Sleeping Draught" he ordered and began dragging Remus.

"Sirius!" he whined. "It's late, and if we are walking outside, we'll just get caught and get detention!" Remus insisted and dragged the other way, but seeing as Remus couldn't use his full strength, Sirius won.

"No we won't. We'll just use the invisibility cloak" he smirked.

"You have an invisibility cloak?" Remus' mouth was open and his eyes wide.

"James has" he explained and pulled the cloak out from under his robes. Remus' eyes got even wider. Both of the boys walked downstairs before Sirius put the cloak over them.

It was hard to walk when they had to be so close. Usually the dark would have bothered Sirius, but when Remus was right next to him, he found that he wasn't afraid. It took a while and they had to stand still for a couple of minutes when some Prefects passed them.

Finally the two boys made it to the Hospital Wing. They knocked on the door and two minutes and twenty-three seconds later Madam Pomfrey stood in front of them with only night-robes and some matching pink slippers.

"Anything wrong?" the nurse asked, her gaze quickly fell on Remus for a second.

"Remus can't sleep, we were wondering if we could borrow some Sleeping Draught for him" Sirius used the politest tone he had.

Madam Pomfrey smiled before disappearing and reappearing with a bottle. "Anything else?"

"No. Thank you, ma'am" Sirius smiled before he and Remus walked back towards their dorm. When Madam Pomfrey closed the door, Sirius put the cloak over him again. Normally he would have forgotten it, but he knew Remus would want them to hide.

Once back in the dorm Sirius finally asked his question.

"Is this the first night you had trouble sleeping?"

Remus looked down, and once he realized he had to answer, he shook his head.

"Why didn't you tell?" Sirius asked worriedly.

"I didn't want to bother you guys" he mumbled.

"Remus you are so stupid" Sirius stated and pulled the smaller boy in for a hug. "You don't bother us with your problems. You can come to us with _anything_." The boys pulled apart. Remus still didn't like that they assured him that all the time. Of course it was great he could get help from them, but they _constantly_ said it, therefore it seemed as if they knew something.

Remus fiddled with the long sleeves on his pyjamas. "We better go to sleep now" he turned around to get into his bed, only to find out Sirius was following him. He sent the other boy a confused look.

"I'm gonna make sure you fall asleep" Sirius smiled.

The tiny boy blushed but sat down on his bed under the duvet and prepared to take the Sleeping Draught. Sirius handed the bottle to him. Remus took a big gulp and Sirius took the bottle again. Sirius saw as Remus yawned and slowly got under the duvet. It took seconds before he started snoring, but right before he uttered a sleepy "G'night."

Sirius smiled at his friend's adorableness. He waited a couple of minutes to make sure Remus was really sleeping before slowly reaching for the other boy's arm.

The sight terrified him. Sirius only saw the lower half of the arm, but it was so filled with scars and bruises that he couldn't look at more. He wanted to vomit. How could anyone hurt such a nice boy as Remus? It wasn't as if he was a bad kid like Sirius.

He pulled down the sleeve again and walked towards his own bed. This made him even more determined than before to help his friend. Sirius took a gulp of the Sleeping Draught because he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep after seeing what he just saw.

….

Remus woke up feeling better than the other mornings.

Peter woke up feeling excited.

He had been practising the slide-charm and he could almost do it. That meant he would be able to make some slides too when the boys prepared Operation Slide. Peter had never been able to help in a useful way for pranks before.

It was Saturday and they would head for an abandoned corridor to practice the charm after breakfast. All of them would practice the charm. That meant him too. Peter just had to remember to breathe, imagine the spell working, and then do it. Just like Remus always told him to.

He ate lots of breakfast as usual. You can't start a day on an empty stomach. That's what his mom said at least. Also, it was hard not to eat a lot when the food was so delicious.

Finally they finished and headed for the corridor. Three of them would keep watch seeing as they aren't supposed to practice magic in the hallways.

Sirius started, and after a few attempts, he made a perfect slide. Peter was jealous of how good Sirius was. The boy slid down the slide, and James was the next to try. It took a bit longer, but James mastered it easily. Remus was next.

He took longer than both James and Sirius combined but yet mastered it in the end. Remus laughingly slid down the slide, then walked towards Peter.

"I know you can do it" he encouraged.

Peter nodded and walked towards the staircase. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and imagined the staircase turning into a slide just like all the others. Peter took another deep breath.

"Labour Lapsus." The staircase turned faintly into a slide before going back. He was filled with hope and tried another time. Every time Peter cast it, the staircase looked even more like a slide. And finally after having used the most time on it, Peter successfully turned it into a slide.

He let out a triumphant grin. Peter beamed as his friends gathered around him to congratulate him. They all knew he had a bit of some trouble with the magic, so when he mastered it, it was always a great thing. No one ever congratulated Sirius because he could do most things in first try.

"So tonight?" James asked excitedly.

"Tonight" Sirius confirmed.

"Tonight what?" they all turned around to stand face to face with none other than Snivellus. James instantly turned mad. He didn't want that Slimy Slytherin to hurt his friend again. Any of his friends for that matter.

"Curious huh Snivellus? Why don't you get some friends yourself and try to have some fun?" James and Sirius stood in the front while Peter and Remus stood behind them, they didn't have the same fight-energy as their other friends.

Snape snorted. "You call that friends? A bloodtraitor, a squib and a goblin? I would rather not!"

Neither of any of the boys had their wands out, though they were prepared to grab it any second.

"So you would rather be friends with non-existing people?" Sirius asked taunted.

Snape's face turned red much to Sirius' and James' amusement. "Not that it's any of your _business_ but I do have friends" he suddenly turned to look amused.

James snorted loudly. "Who would want to be friends with you?"

Snape crossed his arms and looked even more amused than before. "Lily Evans."

James was blank for a moment. "LIAR" he yelled. "Someone as perfect as Lily Evans would never be friends with a Slimy Slytherin like you!" The amused look didn't leave Snape's eyes, in fact. It seemed as if they turned more amused.

"Have you forgotten already? No wonder you are so dense at everything-"

"Forgotten what?" Sirius snapped. He wanted Snivellus gone as quickly as possible.

He smiled maliciously. "Last year. On the train."

Realization rushed over the two boys like a waterfall. How could they forget? The day the two boys met was also the day they met Evans and Snape. It had been when James decided he wanted to pull the last test on Sirius to determine if they could become friends.

James quickly got back on track. "So what? One friend versus three? Doesn't quite add up." He muttered an almost silent three under his breath. Sirius got ready beside him.

"I still can't believe you are calling _that_ friends" Snivellus Snapped. James muttered two.

"You clearly can't recognize a good friend when you see one, maybe that's why you only have one!" he muttered one.

"What is it they say? Quality over quantity. Clearly I have taken the right-"

But Snape didn't say any more, because at that moment James whispered now to Sirius and each of them shot a spell at the Slytherin. James had chosen a simple tickling-charm while Sirius had gone for a more complicated one.

Anyways, three of the four boys laughed as Snivellus was now laying on the floor laughing. But he had a pumpkin head instead of his usual ugly one. It was an improvement really.

James and Sirius had been so distracted about laughing at the pumpkin-head in front of them that they hadn't been paying attention to what was going on behind them. It wasn't before Peter who had previously been laughing with them called out Remus' name and asked where the other boy was going that they turned around.

Remus was walking in the opposite direction of them, his whole body appeared tense and he didn't answer when Peter called once more. James and Sirius quickly looked at each other before casting the counter-charms on Snape and follow Peter towards Remus.

Sirius arrived there first and grabbed Remus' shoulder to make him stand still. Remus didn't look at him but stared stubbornly at the floor.

"What happened? Why did you walk away?" he asked confused.

"Why do you think?" Remus almost snapped, but he managed not to. When neither of his friends answered he let out a frustrated growl, then immediately regretted his action. Only animals growl. He wanted to walk away again, but James grabbed his arm.

"Please tell Remus. We didn't mean to upset you" James insisted.

"IT'S NOT ABOUT ME" he yelled. Remus took a few breaths to calm himself down, his friends seemed shocked by his outburst. _Control. Control. Control._ "Why did you have to bully him?" he asked in a controlled voice.

Peter suddenly felt bad for laughing with them. He hadn't done anything, and it had seemed as if justified it, but it doesn't. Those who laugh are just as bad as those doing the bullying. Peter knew all about being bullied.

"Remus that wasn't bullying-" James began.

"Then what was it?" he snapped.

"We defended you, Remus. He called you a goblin" James couldn't believe Remus was saying all of this. He had done it for his friends, no one could hurt or call them names. And especially not a Slytherin like Snivellus.

"And that justifies it? Snape started with words, it was you who attacked him with wands!"

"If we hadn't, he would have" James explained.

"Why do you care anyway? He is just a Slytherin" Sirius stated. Snivellus was a meanie and he deserved what had happened.

"Oh. So if I go attack your brother it's okay because he is _just_ a Slytherin?" Remus exclaimed.

Sirius had no idea how Remus could think such thing. "No because he hasn't done anything-"

"WASN'T THAT THE PROBLEM?!" Remus couldn't understand how they couldn't see what he meant. He tried to calm down and quit yelling, but it also felt _so_ good to let something out and not be the usual good boy as he normally is.

Sirius was stunned. He clenched his fists. "This. Is. Not. The. Same. Thing!" he tried to keep his emotions at bay. Keep it down as his parents always taught him to, never show any signs of emotion.

"Why?" Remus insisted. "How is that different? What has Snape done that is worse than what your brother didn't do?"

Sirius was about to yell something back and defend his brother but was cut off by a loud yell.

"ENOUGH!" the four boys turned around to see Eckbird their Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. He moved closer towards the boys and eyed them, Remus turned to stare at the ground again. "You two come with me" he growled.

Remus and Sirius silently followed the man, they ended up in an empty classroom where Professor Eckbird cleared the room for tables. He ordered Remus to stand in the one end and Sirius in the other. They were facing each other but didn't look. The boys had never been fighting like this before, they both wondered what this would mean for their friendship.

"In wizarding duels, you will have to bow to each other before starting to show respect" Eckbird began. Both boys looked up at the mention of a duel. Remus began shaking slightly, Sirius wouldn't duel him, would he? They looked at each other and bowed. "When I count to three you can either disarm, stun, injure or defeat the other in order to win." Professor Eckbird looked at them to make sure he understood. "The winner wins the argument."

"Sir? Duelling is not allowed" Sirius stated.

"I'm a teacher I can do what I want!" Eckbird growled. His expression softened but he still looked dangerous, he walked up behind Sirius. "I know exactly who you are _Sirius Black_ , and if you are anything like your family I know exactly what you are capable of. So go do it, defeat him and win the argument!"

Sirius had a fierce expression, Remus began shaking rapidly, maybe even sweating a little bit. Whatever curse Sirius shot at him would hit him. Most of them would probably show his skin and if Eckbird saw his bite or even some of the scars he would know exactly what Remus was and have him expelled only because Remus couldn't control himself.

Remus still lifted his wand when Eckbird counted to three. He tried to breathe and concentrate on a spell to cast, but he couldn't stop his mind from going wild. There is no way he can beat Sirius.

Sirius' mind was racing as well, if he could knock Remus back, his shirt would most likely fall off and there would be scars, and then Eckbird could see them, tell Dumbledore and get Remus away from those hurting him. He could help Remus if he could just get his shirt off.

But Remus looked so scared and Sirius realized he couldn't do it. He wouldn't want anyone to find out his secret this way, it should be when he chose to share it, not when anyone forced him. This could help Remus, but it could also hurt him at the same time. Sirius would have to find another way to help his friend. He heard his Professor's word ring in his head. _If you are anything like your family I know exactly what you are capable of._ Sirius is _not_ like his family.

So when Eckbird yelled now and expected the two boys to cast a curse at each other Sirius knew exactly what to do. Instead of doing what Eckbird expected Sirius turned around and hit the man with a knockback jinx. The older man hit the wall but wasn't knocked out, he got back on his feet fast.

"I WILL NEVER HURT MY FRIENDS!" Sirius yelled. His eyes were full of fierce and anger. How could any Professor ever think it was a good idea to turn friends against each other?

"I expected more of you" he stated coldly and walked out of the classroom without another word. Sirius felt like the biggest disappointment. But he had done the right thing, that's for sure.

Sirius turned around to again to see Remus still shaking and eyes full of disbelieve. He quickly ran over there and embraced his friend. Remus relaxed and wrapped his arms around Sirius as well. They stood like that for a little bit before letting go, the classroom seemed much lighter now.

Remus was still shaking slightly. "Sorry, I just… Fuck I really thought you were going to hex me…"

"I will never hurt my friends" he repeated and smiled shyly.

An awkward silence appeared.

"What happens when two friends yell at each other?" Sirius asked awkwardly.

"Uhh. I guess they say sorry" Remus stated just as awkwardly.

Sirius took a deep breath to prepare himself. His parents taught him that if you say sorry, it's a sign of weakness because then you admit you were wrong. But he wanted to keep his friend, so if that's what it took, he would do it. Remus said sorry before him though.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you" he looked down. "And said those things about your brother, I didn't mean it. I just don't like that you bully Snape the same way you did it to me last year, it feels wrong."

"I'm sorry too" Sirius admitted, and he actually meant it. "Me and James should have listened to you. And I promise I won't attack Snivellus again unless he starts. Though then it's not attacking but defending." Remus giggled.

"James and I" he corrected and hid a shy smile by staring at the ground.

Sirius rolled his eyes and laughed. "James and I then. Come on, we got a prank to plan."

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 **Ugh angst, I love it. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Please review! It makes me so happy and I just want to write every time I get one! :D**


	32. Endless amounts of chocolate

**DISCLAIMER JK Rowling owes the wizarding world of Harry Potter.**

 **Last time: Sirius tries to talk with his brother, but it doesn't end well. He helps Remus fall asleep by getting him some Sleeping Draught. The four boys practice the slide-charm when they run into Snivellus. Remus and Sirius start fighting but quickly becomes good friends again.**

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 **Endless amounts of chocolate**

Four boys were joined under one invisibility cloak. They had to do the spell from under it to avoid getting caught, the only problem is that it's not the easiest task in the world to fit four twelve-year-old boys under one cloak, even though one of them is so small it almost doesn't count.

One thing that didn't make it easier was the fact that the boys had to walk around every corner to make sure no one was nearby. Remus was able to tell if anyone was coming or not, but he couldn't tell the others that.

"We should have a thing that would know if anyone is coming" Remus whispered when someone had stepped in his feet for the twelve-hundred time.

"Or something to tell where everyone is" Sirius whispered.

"Like a map?" Peter suggested.

"Nah. That would be weird" James interposed. "Though we really do need something."

They all took turns to transfigure a staircase. Some of them took longer than others, but it was more fun if all of them had helped. Then they could all say they had made the prank.

It was way past midnight when they were finally done with all the staircases. All four boys were tired and dragged themselves towards the common room before taking off the cloak and continuing towards their dorm.

Remus was the first to take the bathroom and come out in his pyjamas. He quickly snuggled under the covers. After some time he drank a bit of Sleeping Draught to make sure he would fall asleep, but not before he heard all the other's slow breaths.

...

Neither of the boys slept very long the next day, they were all very excited to see how everyone responded to their latest prank. It's very different from the ones they usually make seeing as they aren't targeting anyone, this was more of a fun thing for everyone to enjoy.

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter all waited in the dorm until they could come out - it would be weird if they arrived at breakfast two hours earlier than usual. They went towards the Great hall when almost everyone had gone down there.

On their way they enjoyed the many slides from the seventh floor to the ground floor, the only thing that could make it better was if they had found an easy anti-gravity spell so people could slide up. Though the many laughs and happy shrieks from students (mostly Ravenclaws and Gryffindors) were too good to not be excited.

The Great Hall was filled with happy buzzing and whispering students. They were wondering who had made the prank. Peter overheard some Ravenclaws talk about the possibilities of how it could have been done without the guilty getting caught.

"They did it in the middle of the night!" Bellerose Winter whispered enthusiastically.

"That's impossible" Petal Watson disagreed. She frowned and actually looked a little bit cute if her voice hadn't been so better knowing.

"It's not!" Winter insisted. "I bet it was made by some older students, they can turn themselves invisible!"

"Can they?" the first year Javion Martinez asked with big eyes.

Winter nodded while Watson shook her head.

Everyone was so excited, and it was hard for the boys to not expose themselves, no matter how much everyone loved it, they would still get detention. They acted as if they too were excited about the mysterious slides that had appeared overnight.

When they were sitting at the table Sirius leaned over and whispered into James' ear, but it was still loud enough for both Peter and Remus to hear.

"I think Snivellus has a crush on you" he gestured to the Slytherin table. "He can't take his eyes off you."

James did not look pleased as his three friends laughed, he made some vomiting sounds to show his disgust.

"You think he is going to tell on us?" Remus whispered worriedly. Last year when they had detention it was very hard for him to keep up with the homework.

"He can't prove anything" Sirius stated confidently.

After breakfast, lots of the students had fun on the slides. Everyone was laughing and having a blast, even the Slytherins and older students. It felt good knowing they had caused it.

...

...

"Remus is hurt!"

James and Peter stared at Sirius again. It was Study Sunday, therefore they were studying. Remus had decided to study in the dorm because the common room was too noisy. Sirius had sent the others a look which told them to not go with him, though they promised they would come up in a bit.

"I saw his arm a couple of days ago" he continued. "After I met my brother, I found out that he hadn't been able to sleep since we got here, so we went to Madam Pomfrey to get some Sleeping Draught. When he had fallen asleep, I rolled up his sleeve, it was filled with scars and bruises. No cat would be able to do that!" He had been whispering the whole story afraid that anyone else would hear him.

"Then what do we do now?" Peter asked nervously. He wanted to help Remus but wasn't sure about the best way to do so. They wouldn't know how he would react to it, and the last thing he wanted was for Remus to be upset.

"We should tell him we know" James stated. "If he knows we know then it's easier to help him."

"We can't just tell," Peter said. "It could scare him. He has to tell us when he is ready."

"But while we wait, he might get hurt!" Sirius exclaimed. They didn't understand the seriousness of this. Sirius had only seen Remus' arm, who knows how the rest of him looked? "He is probably going to visit his mom soon and that can't be good."

They all looked puzzled. "Maybe we can tell Professor McGonagall" the smallest of the boys suggested. "She will know what to do, I bet Remus would open up to her. He might be afraid we will judge him, but she won't."

"Okay," Sirius decided. He liked the idea. Remus might not be ready to come out to them, but he will definitely come out to a teacher. Especially McGonagall. "It sounds good, but we gotta do it soon. Before he goes to visit his mom."

"Tomorrow" James suggested. "We can say I want to practice for the Quidditch team, and you will come with me to help. Remus hates to fly (and be outside) therefore we can do it without him, Peter you can distract and keep him away from her. I'll bring the cloak just in case, and we will go to McGonagall's office."

Sirius and Peter nodded. They were all happy to have a plan.

...

The tiny boy had only just taken the first step on the staircase to the boy's dormitory when he heard Sirius.

"Remus is hurt!"

Usually he wouldn't have been able to hear it as he would block out sound from afar, but this was Sirius' voice. A voice he knew very well. He would have been able to hear it everywhere.

Now Remus isn't the kind of guy who likes to eavesdrop on others, but this was about him, and maybe he could get answers to why his friends were so assuring all the time.

The next thing Sirius said was in a whisper, but he strained himself to hear what his friend was saying and did not like it. Sirius had used him. He had pretended to care about Remus just so he could prove his theory and look at his arm.

His friends kept talking about how they could help him. He listened to every word and wanted to scream. They care about him so much and wants to help him, but they can't help. And if they ever discover his secret, they won't help him. They won't even look at him anymore.

He suddenly heard them get up and leave. Remus hurried up the stairs, towards the dorm, placed his things carefully on his bed, grabbing his pyjamas before hurrying to the toilet and turn on the shower. Just as he had turned it on the others entered the dorm.

It took a second before they realized he wasn't there. "Remus?" it was Peter who called. Remus was surprised they couldn't hear the shower.

"In the shower" he yelled back before quickly taking off all his clothes and stepping under the hot water. Remus let it fall down his body and touch his skin. He wiped a few tears away with the back of his hand.

If they kept investigating it wouldn't take long before his friends would discover his secret. Remus couldn't let that happen, it could ruin his entire life. If they found out, they would tell everyone and he would be kicked out of Hogwarts, his wand would be snapped in half, and he would lose the only friends he had ever had. But not only that. The ministry would find out, his dad would most likely be fired for having a werewolf son, it would become impossible for himself to get a job in the future, and Dumbledore would surely be kicked out for allowing a murderous beast around other students.

But what to do now?

He could admit to them he was abused, but that would mean they wanted to help him, and it would be extremely hard for him to go home every month. Remus could say McGonagall was helping, but would it be enough to stop them from investigating further?

Maybe he could find a way to hide his scars and take off his shirt in front of the others? Then they would know he isn't abused. Though Sirius would be confused as to why his scars were suddenly gone. Then he would be determined to figure out why they were gone, and maybe look at his arm again. Whatever way he found to hide them probably wouldn't last forever, and then Sirius would see the scars. Perhaps he wouldn't settle with the arm this time, but rather take a look at his whole body and discover the bite. Then he would know, and Remus would be kicked out of Hogwarts.

The best way would be to go away from Hogwarts one day without telling them, then he could still stay in the wizarding world and get a job, that way neither him, his dad or Dumbledore was going to suffer from it.

The only problem was if he could do it. Could Remus walk away one day without saying goodbye? Let them wonder for the rest of their lives what happened? Was he selfish?

If he wrote them a letter, they would at least know why. He didn't even have to tell the truth, it could be for another reason.

"You drowning out there?" James yelled from the dorm which caused both Sirius and Peter to laugh. Remus didn't answer at first. He knew his voice would reveal the crying. Remus took a few calming breaths and wiped away water from his eyes that were a mixture of both water and tears. "Remus?" came a more worried call.

"I'm okay" he quickly yelled back. The caring only made everything so much harder. "It's just nice with a bath." He knew it sounded lame, but he couldn't come up with something better.

Remus didn't actually believe he could leave Hogwarts for good, not before his seventh year at least. Practising magic simply is the most wonderful thing ever. And even though he had a tough time last year because of Sirius and James, he couldn't imagine not being friends with them and Peter. He couldn't leave them for good.

He turned the water off and dried himself. Remus used a couple of minutes in the bathroom to make sure his eyes weren't red before taking on his pyjamas and going back into the dorm. Sirius and James shared James' bed while Peter had taken his own. He liked how serious they took Study Sunday.

Remus carefully took his things and spread them out on his bed. For the first time in his life, he was happy the pyjamas were too big for him. Not even two seconds passed before he had found his secret supplies of chocolate, right now he was upset, and chocolate was the only thing that could fix it.

The wind outside crashed against the walls. The weather apparently never thought it would be nice around the school. Remus was just glad the duvet was warm.

"Honestly Remus? We just had supper, how can you eat chocolate already?" Peter asked when he noticed.

"For the first, we had supper two hours ago. Secondly, I can always eat chocolate."

Peter rolled his eyes. "I don't doubt it."

"Care to share?" James asked with a grin on his face.

"Nope!" he replied honestly. Chocolate is never for sharing.

"Come on Remy!" Peter joined in. "Just a little bite" he suggested innocently.

"No" he was sure to leave any trace of a joke out of his voice. Remus really wasn't in the mood for sharing right now, he just wanted to eat his chocolate in peace.

"What a shame," James said sarcastically. "Because for half of it I can show you where to get any kind of chocolate any time of the day..." he looked at a drooling Remus with a smug smile.

"Any kind?" he asked before he could think.

"Chocolate cake, chocolate biscuits, hot chocolate, chocolate pies..." James paused to see how his words had affected Remus.

Remus had no idea if James was joking or not, but chocolate cake and hot chocolate just sounded amazing at the moment. He _could_ give up some chocolate for endless amounts of chocolate.

"You are just trying to fool me" he decided. "Where could you possibly get endless amounts of chocolate?" Remus was disbelieving, though hoped James wasn't lying.

"Give me some chocolate and I'll tell you."

He was about to give in when Sirius rolled his eyes and cut in. "Don't use the poor boy James" he playfully hit his friend, and then turned to Remus. "On the ground floor there is a painting with a fruit bowl, just tickle the pear and you will end up in the kitchens."

Remus smiled, but James pouted. "Thanks Sirius," he said before quickly getting on some thick socks and robes around his pyjamas.

"Kitchens?" Peter asked with a frown. "How do you know how to get down there? And why haven't you told yet?" Think of all the midnight-snacks he could have gotten.

"Some seventh years told us last year, for the Sleeping Draught Prank, and I guess we just didn't think about it." Sirius shrugged his shoulders as if it didn't matter.

Peter's expression was priceless, it would be like telling Remus that chocolate was banned from Hogwarts. "How- Wha- Gah-"

"Anyone want to go to the kitchens with me?" Remus cut off before Peter could get talking too much. Chocolate was waiting.

"I'll go" James quickly said, he grabbed the invisibility cloak.

"I would love to, but I really got to finish this" Peter pouted.

"I'm going to stay and help Pete" Sirius offered.

...

About a hundred pairs of big eyes stared at the two boys as they entered the kitchen. A couple of them quickly came over to say a polite hello and offer some sweets and cakes. Remus was completely shocked by the sight in front of him. James grinned and gently pushed his friends forward.

"I- uhh, do you have anything with chocolate, please?" Remus blushed and James could tell he had never seen a House Elf before.

One of the House Elves smiled at how nice he was being and quickly went off to get something with chocolate as Remus had requested. James dragged him towards the fireplace where he and Sirius had been sitting before. It was nice and warm, it didn't take long before the House Elf had returned with still warm slices of brownies.

Remus' face lit up at the sight. He quickly thanked the Elf (Petra) so he could eat those delicious brownies as soon as possible. Remus was delighted to discover the melted chocolate inside of the brownies.

James asked for some hot chocolate for both him and Remus, also some more brownies (because Remus had already been eating almost all of them) and maybe a couple of things to take with them for the others.

"Why have you never told about this place?" Remus couldn't get enough of these brownies, it was exactly what he needed after overhearing his friends.

James laughed. "You have something" he pointed at his own cheek. In a matter of seconds, there was a House Elf next to the tiny boy with a wet and a dry towel. Remus cleaned himself with a blush on his face, he quickly thanked the Elf. "To your original question. I really don't know, we just haven't thought about it I guess, but now you can get all the chocolate treats you want." He smiled at his friend who smiled back. Remus' teeth were covered in chocolate.

"How come you be such a chocolate addict anyway?" James asked and quickly got a brownie before Remus ate them all.

Remus hungrily stared at the brownie James took. "How come you _not_ be such a chocolate addict?"

"Good question" James laughed. "But really, have chocolate gens or something?"

The other boy shook his head. "When I was little my mom used to have chocolate lying around all the time, and I would _always_ come to ask for just a little piece, and she couldn't say no to me" a pretty little smile appeared on Remus' lips.

The reason she kept chocolate around was so he could get it after the full moon. When he was younger it was very hard for his parents to make him sit still after a transformation even though he was in pain. They promised him chocolate if he could go through it 'like a big boy'. Which meant no crying and laying still while they took care of his scars and bruises. It became a habit to ask for the chocolate even though the full moon was as far away as it could be.

Remus had almost forgotten this. There had been a point last year where he never thought he had had a happy memory, but this one was happy. Even though it had started because of something bad. Maybe the thing with his friends and his Lycanthropy would work out itself? Remus was suddenly filled with hope.

"You know, werewolves like chocolate."

The comment was meant as casual, but Remus froze. James didn't notice as he took a big bite of a brownie and enjoyed it with closed eyes. Remus quickly gathered himself together before James saw his sad expression.

"Hmm," he tried to appear uninterested so James would change the subject.

"I read it in that book Lupines Lawlessness, I haven't read the whole thing yet because it's not going to be homework anyway."

Remus avoided answering by stuffing some more chocolate into his mouth.

James saw Remus' expression and immediately worked it out. "Let me guess, you have already read the whole thing?"

In need of something better Remus simply nodded.

"It's okay Remus! Professor Eckbird said we would be covering it next year. It's a good thing you have read it already, it's gonna help you a lot next year" he promised thinking it would help his friend's mood.

"Yeah" Remus replied and forced a smile.

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 **I want to eat chocolate now.**

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	33. What to tell

If you have any ideas for future chapters, I would love to hear it.

 **DISCLAIMER JK Rowling owes the wizarding world of Harry Potter**

 **Last time: they make the Slide Prank. Sirius tells James and Peter some horrifying news, Remus overhears and is desperate for some chocolate. While Remus and James are in the kitchens, he tells Remus that werewolves like chocolate.**

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 **What to tell**

James was jubilant that Sirius was on with the 'ask McGonagall' plan. He was afraid Sirius might want to do something on his own, their constant assurance didn't make Remus come to them, but if they talked with McGonagall, and made her talk with him, then he could get it out and get help.

For once it didn't rain outside. Which was great cause it meant his 'practising Quidditch' excuse would be believable, but it was still cold so Remus wouldn't want to be outside.

Usually, they wouldn't have Astronomy right after Transfiguration, but Professor Sinistra had announced that they wouldn't need to look at the stars tonight. Last year they also had Astronomy classes at different times, but most of them took place around midnight.

So after History of Magic, Transfiguration and Astronomy they decided to grab a little snack in the kitchen. Peter was delighted to discover that the house elves loved to serve, they even took an extra great liking in Peter seeing as he asked for so many things.

It was time to start their plan.

"When are the tryouts for the Quidditch team?" Peter asked, trying to sound casual.

"In a couple of weeks," James replied a bit more casual than Peter. "I was thinking of practising for it today, the weather isn't too bad so it will be great."

"I'll come with you" Sirius stated even more casual than both of the other boys.

"I'll come too."

They all turned to Remus with a shocked expression, this was not part of the plan. Why did Remus suddenly voluntarily want to be outside?

"But you hate being outside" James accused.

Remus shrugged. "Just thought I would come to support. Why? You don't want me there?"

"No no no!" he quickly exclaimed. "I mean; of course I want you to be there, I just don't want you to feel like you have to. I know you don't enjoy being outside that much because it's cold." James hoped he hadn't upset Remus, but mostly he hoped the other boy would stay in the library with Peter or something.

Remus smiled and was about to answer, but Peter saw it has his cue and spoke before him. "Uhh… I was thinking of practising some charms I still struggle with, don't you want to help me, Remus?"

"Are you not coming with us? It could be so much fun" Remus insisted.

"Uhm… I just thought you would like to get some studying done before you visit your mom…"

"There's a reason we have Study Sunday" he pointed out. "What is the big fuss about? I just thought it would be nice to do something fun together."

Sirius did not like the pout that was appearing on Remus' face.

"We can ask Madam Hooch if we all can burrow brooms, then we can play Quidditch two against two."

Remus smiled, but James and Peter had a confused expression. They were supposed to keep Remus away from them so they could talk to McGonagall, but Sirius realized they couldn't do that now. He actually had another plan coming up.

"Great. James and I will ask Madam Hooch, then you two can pick up our scarfs and gloves from the dorm?"

"Course" Peter quickly agreed as he understood Sirius' plan and raised himself before Remus could say anything.

Three of the boys were already in the other end of the kitchen when Remus finally spoke up. He tried his hardest to not sound desperate, Remus _had_ to speak to McGonagall before them so they could plan a plan.

"There is no way she will lend brooms to two of the biggest pranksters in the school. Why don't we all go? You all always say the teachers love me, why don't we use it?"

James, Peter and Sirius all shared a look, how could they get out of this one? Remus was apparently determined to not split up, but they had to. How would they be able to help him if he kept standing in the way?

"Come on" Remus continued and led the way towards Madam Hooch's office. The other boys hesitantly followed him not sure what else to do.

James' mind raced to find a solution to the problem, what could they do now? They couldn't get away from Remus now, it would seem weird and as if they were avoiding him - which they were trying to - but it was for good reasons. They were trying to help him.

….

Surprisingly enough Madam Hooch allowed them to borrow the brooms if she could come with them (she was surprised herself). She had noticed James' flying and was more than delighted to know that he wanted to try out for the team. Of course giving him the chance to practice with his friends would do no harm. McGonagall surely wouldn't mind when she saw the talent the boy had.

She was convinced he would make a fantastic Quidditch player one day, no matter the position he chose, though she could see him more like a chaser or seeker, being a keeper would mean standing still. James had mastered both Weaving and Fast Laps after only a few tries, he seemed like the kind of player who enjoyed making these kinds of tricks.

Though she was surprised that Remus would willingly get on a broom. After she heard about him, she read a bit more about… his thing. Just like many of the other professors had, and Madam Pomfrey. Werewolves were rarely seen flying as the wolf inside of them didn't like it. He would have made a great seeker otherwise because of his small form.

When she heard about Peter Pettigrew, she expected him to be a great flyer like his dad, but she had to be surprised by his lack of talent on a broom. It was a shame, really.

What was even more of a shame was Sirius not wanting to try out for the team. He lacked the natural flow whom James had, but with a bit of practice, perhaps he could become good.

Madam Hooch had been so nice to even pick out the original Quidditch balls, though she refused to let them use the Bludgers. A couple of second years wouldn't be able to handle those. She would let the snitch out later confident that James would be able to catch it, if not she could always use Accio. But at first, she would let them play with the Quaffle.

….

"I can't believe she actually lent us brooms" James stated shocked. He had kind of hoped she wouldn't; then they could come up with another plan to talk with McGonagall without Remus' knowledge.

"It seems like I'm not the only teacher-favourite" Remus grinned and nudged James in his side.

James nudged back and smiled. Even though it had never been the plan to go outside and practice, he was glad they were doing it. He was terrified he wouldn't make the team, but it helped to know his friends supported him. Hopefully, this would calm his nerves.

"Nervous for the tryouts?" Peter asked, easily recognizing the expression James wore.

"A little bit" he shrugged.

"You are gonna kill it" Sirius clapped his back. "You're a natural on a broom, they are crazy if they won't let you play!"

"But they never let second years play" James complained. Last year there had only been one third-year, so there was no way they would let James play.

"That's because they have never had you before" Sirius replied. "You are gonna make the team! And if not, then we'll practice _a lot_ this year, and then you can get in next year."

James nodded, but he didn't want to wait, he had already waited a whole year. One more would be awful.

Remus smiled wryly. "Now is a bad time to say Quidditch isn't everything, isn't it?"

All three other boys looked outraged.

"Remus! It's always a bad time to say that!" Peter exclaimed for all of them.

They laughed, Sirius and James raced the last bit towards the pitch. When they were out of earshot Sirius whispered to James.

"I'm gonna fake an injury so Remus will take me to the hospital wing."

James nodded quickly. A few moments later Peter and Remus both joined them, Remus looked a bit regretful even though he was trying to hide it. Peter looked nervous at the thought of flying.

"Up on the sticks mates," James smiled and got up on his own broom. His parents had gotten it for him on his last birthday because he wanted to join the team. The others had borrowed brooms from the school.

Sirius got up on his as well, Peter managed with a bit of struggle, and finally, Remus got up even though his whole body was shaking.

"Can we… uhh… do it near the ground instead of…" Remus glared at three seventeen meter tall goals and gulped. "...instead of up there?"

Under other circumstances, James would have been against it, but not only did Remus look terrified, but Peter also looked quite nervous. Plus Remus needed to know they would do things for him if he needed it. Doesn't matter how high up they were anyways.

"Course. What teams should we make?" he asked and looked around.

"One good and one bad on each team?" Peter suggested. "James and Sirius against each other and me and Remus against each other."

"I'm not-" Sirius began but was cut off by Peter.

"But at least you can stay on the broom" he pointed out.

Sirius shrugged his shoulders. Maybe if Remus and he made a team it would make sense if Remus was the one who brought him to the hospital wing.

"I think me and Remus will make a great team" he announced to the group. "If it won't work, we'll just switch teams." Before any of them could complain he grabbed Remus hand and dragged him away from the two others.

James quickly leaned closer to Peter's ear. "Sirius is going to fake an injury so Remus will take him to the hospital wing, we'll talk to McGonagall."

Peter nodded and both boys prepared to start the game. Madam Hooch walked into the middle with the Quaffle. She made Sirius and James shake hands as they were unofficial captains.

"I want a fair game" she announced as always before a game.

….

"Argh!" Sirius almost cried in pain as he clutched his broken leg. He was _supposed_ to fake it, but it hadn't gotten right.

Oh whatever, magic can heal it.

Madam Hooch had gotten inside to use the restroom, so there were only his friends outside to rush towards him with worried expressions. He knew James knew it could be fake (and probably also Peter), but no one could have faked that fall.

"Sirius are you alright?" James was the first one next to him

"Remove your hands!" Remus ordered and Sirius let go immediately.

He clenched his teeth and nodded. It wasn't worse than being locked up in a tiny box for a couple of days after all. This was a pain he could deal with, not the whispers in the dark. He wanted to reach out and grab his legs to stop the pain, but the logical side of him (yes, he has one) told him it was stupid.

When neither of his friends said anything, Sirius became frustrated.

"No, I'm fine, don't take me to the Hospital Wing" he snapped.

Remus and James were quickly by his side to help him stand up and then walk towards the Hospital Wing, they met Madam Hooch on the way and explained the situation to her. Peter opened all the doors for them and also called Madam Pomfrey while Remus and James helped Sirius sit down on one of the beds.

Madam Pomfrey examined his leg with her wand.

"It's broken" she stated. "I can heal it easily, but you have to stay here overnight." Without a warning, she flicked her wand which caused Sirius to groan loudly. One second after it didn't even hurt anymore. "You can stay for thirty minutes and then go back to your dorms before curfew," she told the others.

With a little help, Sirius managed to sit comfortably in the bed. Remus and Peter found some chairs and James sat down on the bed. Getting separated from them was harder than James had thought. Did they really do everything together?

"This is why I don't play Quidditch" Sirius joked which caused the other three to laugh.

"It's just because you sacrifice yourself for the team" Remus stated. "Because of you, we almost beat the others."

James snorted. " _Please_ , you were a hundred points behind."

"It's not fair when we were playing against the next big Quidditch star" Sirius stated and crossed his arms. "And Peter."

Peter frowned. "We probably only won because of James."

"Nah, you were a good partner, Pete. At least you could keep your eyes open" James glanced at Remus who blushed. Even though they were near the ground, it was still too far up for the wolf.

"Well, I wouldn't trade him for anything" Sirius stated proudly and would have swung his arms around Remus if he had been in a position to it.

"I would trade you for James" Remus laughed.

Sirius narrowed his eyes at Remus but then joined the laughing.

"Next time, it's gonna be you three against me" James stated. "That way the teams will be fair."

….

Remus took a deep breath and knocked on the door to McGonagall's office. He had 'borrowed' James' invisibility cloak to sneak out after curfew as he had heard James whisper to Sirius, that Peter and he would get Sirius early the next morning to speak with McGonagall.

She told him to get in, he did and sat down on the chair in front of her. Even though he had done nothing wrong he still felt nervous. The place looked exactly like he remembered it from last time.

"What do you wish to speak about, Mr Lupin?" she asked politely.

"James, Sirius, and Peter they… they think I'm abused at home…"

His professor leaned back and glanced at him over the top of her glasses with an unreadable look, he might have been able to figure it out if he dared to look at her.

"Are you?"

"What? No! Of course not!" Remus exclaimed, confused as to why she would even think such a thing. "It's just that I visit my mom every month and come back hurt… I don't know what to do" he felt helpless uttering the last sentence.

She nodded, understanding that he wanted her help. "What exactly has made them believe you are abused?"

"Sirius… he saw my arm... and the scars. I overheard him telling the others that he noticed I'm hurt every time I return, and they think I just came from my parent's house… I guess that's it."

"So they haven't confronted you about it yet?" McGonagall's head was spinning to find a solution. She wanted to find one as quick as possible, so the poor boy didn't have to worry. It wasn't fair to him.

"No, they want me to come to them. And they wanted to talk with you to see if you could help, I just thought it was better if you were prepared for it…"

She smiled carefully. "It was the right decision of you" she replied assuring. Remus nodded and simply wished he could leave as soon as possible.

They were both quiet for a few moments as Professor McGonagall began looking for a solution.

"Mr Black has only seen your arm?" she asked finally.

Remus nodded. "He saw a couple of scars, and after that, he looked at the whole arm while I was asleep. I told him my cat hurt me when he saw it the first time."

"When you told him, could it seem as if you were lying? Because then you could have gotten them from something else, and didn't tell them because you were embarrassed."

"That could work" he agreed and was relieved they had a plan.

"You could tell them someone attacked you, and you were worried what your friends would think" she continued.

Remus quickly agreed again.

"As for the abuse, they think you receive…" McGonagall eyed Remus in a way that sent shivers down his spine in a very unpleasant way. It was as if she was looking through him. "I will tell them that I was worried myself and spoke with both Dumbledore and the ministry about it. We concluded that you weren't, but simply exhausted because you were worried."

Remus nodded again. It all sounded much better than his original of leaving Hogwarts.

"You'll have to let them know you investigated profoundly, or else they won't give it up."

"There is a potion which forces the drinker to tell the truth, I will tell them your parents drank that" she offered, and Remus nodded. Sirius knows about the potion without a doubt, and if they all believe his parents drank it then they will be more likely to let it go."

"About the thing with your arm" McGonagall continued. "Maybe let them believe you have something to tell them. Tell them that you are embarrassed, but you felt bad for lying. Take some time -but not too long- because they will wait for you to come to them."

"Thank you, Professor. Thank you so much!" a little smile played on his lips. Remus was glad Professor McGonagall was willing to help him. When he first overheard the others everything seemed so impossible, but now everything seemed more manageable.

"You could also tell them the truth" she offered innocently.

Remus smile fell along with his shaking head. "They will hate me."

"You can't know-"

"Sirius and James are both purebloods, and Sirius is a Black. I'm very aware of what they think of my kind."

"Take a biscuit Mr Lupin."

Remus looked up to see her offering a biscuit, he took one and ate it quietly.

"You can't know how they will react to it" she stated kindly. "But I'll stick to the plan until you say otherwise. Now I think it's time for you to go so they can come to me."

He nodded and left her office without another word. Why did she want him to tell and risk ruining his entire future along with his dad's and Dumbledore's?

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 **I know it's been long since my last update, but idk what to write about. There will be some Quidditch in the next chapter I think, but if y'all have ideas I would love to hear them.**

 **Where can I find beta-readers?**

 **I have posted a new story called 'Sooner or later' and if you like Jily then I recommend it.**

 **Remember to review!**


	34. Worth it

**DISCLAIMER JK Rowling owes the wizarding world of Harry Potter**

 **Last time: James, Peter and Sirius try to visit McGonagall, but Remus prevents them from doing so because he needs to speak with her first. Sirius breaks his leg in Quidditch. Remus and McGonagall come up with something to tell the others.**

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 **Worth it**

It was in the early hours that two of the four boys sneaked out of their dorm. They had been tempted to take a look at Remus' arm, but couldn't risk him waking up. When they reached the common room, they stopped sneaking and simply walked out.

A bit later they reached Professor McGonagall's office. Sirius was waiting outside for them. James helped him get up because his leg was still aching. McGonagall should be up by now, and no matter what, she should get up because this was an emergency!

To their surprise (and great delight) she was already behind her desk when they knocked and after that entered her office. Three chairs were in front of her desk and they all sat down at them.

"May I ask for the reason behind your early visit?"

"It's Remus-" James began.

"His parents are hurting him. I have seen his arm, Remus said it was his cat, but he told Peter that he has never had a pet before. He is always hurt when he comes back from visiting his mom" Sirius finished.

McGonagall straighten her back.

"I'm very glad you are all concerned about him-"

"He's our friend" a pale Peter stated. James and Sirius both nodded determinedly.

She paused a second "Please don't interrupt. As I said, I'm glad you are concerned, and I'm pleased to inform you that there is nothing to worry about."

McGonagall made no move to continue talking.

"You can't just say that!" Sirius exclaimed. "There is _everything_ to worry about. You didn't see his arm!"

"Mr Black if you would sit down, please!"

Sirius hadn't even realized he had raised himself, he sat down reluctantly. If McGonagall didn't take his words seriously then he would take matters into his own hands. Didn't matter if Peter and James wanted to help or if he had to do it alone.

"It's a private matter, and I'm not the one to tell" she explained.

"But we can't talk with Remus! We don't think he wants to because then he would have told us already" James argued.

"We won't go before you tell us _exactly_ why we don't have to worry!" Sirius stated and crossed his arms.

All three of them wore determined and stubborn expressions. McGonagall glanced at them with a judging look in her eyes. Then sighed.

"You must know that I expect all of you to keep the things I'm saying to yourself - even from Remus - but I trust you with the information because you're his friends and only want what's best for him."

She looked at them and they all nodded.

"I was concerned about him myself, therefore I went to Dumbledore last year and he turned to the Ministry. They took a closer look at his parents to see if anything was up, but nothing was odd. When Mr Lupin still came back hurt his parents were given a Truth Potion, it still showed nothing."

"But that doesn't explain why he comes back hurt" Sirius argued. He had been so sure his parents were hurting Remus, but all of this also made sense, and if they had been given Veritaserum then surely this was all true.

"When he visits them, he always helps his mom which makes him exhausted. It's nothing else."

"But…" James began but found himself unable to. This covered just about everything.

The three boys fidgeted in their seats, they had been expecting a big Rescue-Mission or something, but now that it all had been solved so easily, they felt rather restless.

"I'm glad you all care enough to seek help," McGonagall answered finally.

"Of course!"

"What else?"

"We're his friends."

Sirius, James and Peter all looked at each other. Remus might not have needed their help, but they were going to help him, and that mattered too because it showed that they cared.

Though Sirius still had a tiny doubt, what happened to Remus' arm if it wasn't because of abuse? Surely no cat should be able to do that. He wasn't able to let it go just yet, Lyall Lupin (Remus' dad) used to be a pretty important person in the ministry, just like own dad, so perhaps they didn't take as close a look as they claimed.

Sirius didn't want to tell the others, but he wasn't going to let it go before he had proved what was wrong himself.

….

A couple of days later James was stopped by none other than Roy Sidney on his way towards supper. Sidney was Captain and Beater of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Because of his 'Beater-body', he seemed much bigger than James who was only twelve.

"Potter, do you have a moment?"

"Uhh…" James turned to his friends for briefly and they smiled encouragingly to him. He turned back to the blonde Beater. "Sure" he replied and tried to sound casual. Maybe he could make a good impression and then Sidney would be more likely to allow him to join the team.

"I saw your flying just a couple of days ago."

"Yeah?" he found it hard to hide his excitement.

"You are gonna try out for the team, right?"

James wanted to burst into a song but managed to keep it down.

"That was the plan" he couldn't contain the smile. Roy Sidney had seen his flying and wanted him to try out for the team. Roy Sidney wanted _him_ to try out for the team.

"It's in a couple of weeks, I'll see you then?" Sidney looked so cool when he said it.

"Of course."

James resisted waving when Sidney walked in the other direction, instead, he turned around and sprinted into the Great Hall and didn't stop until he was right next to his friends.

"He saw me flying" he exclaimed. "Roy Sidney saw my flying and he wants me to try out for the team in a couple of weeks."

Peter and Remus smiled, but Sirius rose from his seat to hug James (he never missed an opportunity to do that). James couldn't describe how happy he was feeling. Roy Sidney wanted to try out for the team!

"Told you, you would get in" Sirius stated.

"I'm not in, he-"

"Yet" Peter interrupted.

James rolled his eyes. "I'm not in, _yet_. He just wanted to make sure I come to the tryouts."

"Which means he thinks you are good, which means he wants you to join. Of course, he can't just say it to you right now" Sirius stated convincingly.

He bit his lip. "We _have_ to practice some more, maybe I can learn some new tricks to impress Sidney" he glanced expectantly as the others, but mostly Sirius as he would give James most competition.

"Maybe you should be a bit more careful, if you get hurt you won't be able to actually try out" Remus pointed out. They were getting steaks for supper and he was delighted. Remus loved meat, and even though he preferred it raw, roasted was good too.

"But I _need_ to practice more. Second years don't get in easily."

"Unless you play seeker because smaller persons fit better" Peter pointed out.

"Stop worrying, James" Sirius cut in. "We'll see if there are any good books with tricks, but we'll be careful" he added the last part with a glance at Remus.

"You don't have to do it for me" Remus lifted his arms defensively. "I think you should practice too, but you just have to be careful."

"Be careful. Right" James took a deep breath. "Okay."

….

James felt a bit better when he got a letter from his parents the next morning. It started as one of the usual letters where they asked how everything was and how his friends were doing, but he had sent them a letter about Roy Sidney after supper yesterday.

They were proud of him. They also thought it should mean something. If he could impress the Quidditch Captain enough to have him ask to come to the tryouts, then imagine what Sidney would think when James was doing his absolute best.

No offence to his friends, Sirius was good, but Remus and Peter could barely stay on the broom. He had to slow down a little so the teams wouldn't be too unfair… okay, he might not have slowed down _that_ much, but come on, he was there to practice. If he joined the team then he would practice with them… it wouldn't give much time for pranks, but it was worth it.

A prank!

It's been ages since they last did one of those!

"Hey guys" James dragged out the 'u' and smirked. Sirius expression quickly changed from slightly bored to mischievous. Remus shook his head.

"I thought you would practice for the Quidditch team."

"I thought you wanted me to be careful" James fired back.

"It could be really fun" Peter agreed with James, but when Remus looked sceptical, he continued. "Come on, we have to make a prank, a…" his gaze found the pumpkin juice, "a Halloween prank!"

"What's Halloween?" Sirius asked and suddenly looked rather uncomfortable like he always did when there was something he didn't know.

"A muggle tradition" Peter quickly explained. He knew all about not knowing stuff and how awful it felt. "Muggles dress up and go from house to house asking for sweets."

"Can't they just buy sweets?" he asked with a frown.

"Uhh… they do, actually, so other kids can come to their house and get sweets."

"Why doesn't everyone just buy sweets for themselves then?"

"Because it's the parents who buy the sweets for other kids, and then the kids get free sweets from others. So technically free sweets."

Sirius didn't seem to get it. He had never learned about muggle traditions before, so something like this was weird to him.

"Free sweets, Sirius. Free sweets explain it all" Peter stated.

"What… uhh, kind of sweets?" Sirius asked embarrassed.

"There's many… let's see, Gold Nuggets Bubblegum, Fizzy Cola Bottles, Flying Saucer Sweets, Fizz Wiz Cherry Popping Candy…" Peter almost drooled as he thought of all those sweets, "the list goes on."

"I wish we could go trick or treating" Remus stated.

James rolled his eyes. "So you can get free chocolate?" he laughed and so did Peter. Remus did after agreeing (his friends really began to know him well; it was both scary and nice).

"I thought you would get sweets" Sirius stated confused.

"Chocolates are kinda sweets" James explained patiently. He imagined himself to be like this himself when somebody tried to explain muggle stuff to him that his parents hadn't already adopted. Plus, he just hated the look on Sirius' face when there was something he didn't know.

"So people give out free sweets and chocolate to kids who dress up?" he asked confused, the other's nodded. "But why would you go out asking for sweets in your party robes?" Muggle traditions really don't make any sense at all.

"You don't," Peter shook his head. "You dress up in costumes, like a vampire, werewolf, ghost or anything really, it doesn't even have to be spooky. Usually, girls dress up as fairies or princesses."

Sirius still had a frown on his face, but he nodded anyway.

"Back to the prank!" James cut in and was relieved when Sirius smiled mischievously. "It should be on the thirty-one of October."

"Agreed," Remus said. "And there's a long time till then, so why begin now?"

James rolled his eyes. " _Because_ it has to be the best prank ever, and if it has to be that, we got to start early."

"It's like when you prepare for an exam two months before they start," Sirius said.

Remus looked outraged. "It is _so_ not the same thing!" he crossed his arms.

"It's the _exact_ same thing" Sirius disagreed. "We go to the library, find a spell or potion which we practice and then show our teachers. How is that different from studying?"

He gave Sirius a pointed look. "It's different because pranks are for fun and studying is for getting better wizards."

"We do become better wizards when performing pranks" Peter quipped. He lowered his voice, "I have become more confident after the slide prank."

It was true. After the slide prank, Peter had gotten just a tiny bit better in class because everything seemed much more possible now. He hadn't believed he would ever master the slide-charm, so when he did, it gave him a new hope that maybe he would be able to master other things that were hard too.

"Uhh-"

"Shh, Remus, you lost. Now you have to help with the prank" James stated.

"Who said I didn't want to help?"

"No one, you seemed so sceptical, I just assumed…"

"Of course I want to help with the prank, you guys can't make a good one without me" Remus held back a smile but relaxed when the others laughed.

"With you two it's definitely gonna be a lot better than last year" Sirius stated with a look at Remus and Peter.

Last year he and James had made pumpkins with dungbombs explode in the Great Hall during All Hollows Eve. It was fun, except the part where they had to clean the whole hall from stinky pumpkin slime.

"Wait? You made the pumpkins explode last year?" Remus exclaimed. He remembered the episode all too well, he had been about to faint from the disgusting smell. Luckily, he had caught Dumbledore's glance and he had stopped it all.

"Who else?" James asked proudly.

"I almost fainted because of that horrible smell" he shuddered at the memory.

"Oh, yeah. I saw that" Sirius said. "Sorry, but it was bad for us too, we had to clean up all of it."

"You deserved it" Peter stated. "You ruined perfectly good dessert, and I swear sometimes I can still smell that pumpkin and sock mixture."

"At least you didn't have to clean some nasty dungeon toilet for five hours" James wrinkled his nose. That punishment definitely hadn't been worth it for the Sleeping Draught Prank.

"Don't remind me" Remus pleaded. If Sirius and James thought it was bad, they should have tried to smell it with a werewolf's nose.

"Come ooon" James impatiently rapidly slammed his palms against the tables several times. "Stop losing track, we have to come up with a prank better than the Pumpkin Explosion Prank!"

"We have to go to class" Remus disagreed, "and we better hurry." He gestured to the empty Great Hall.

….

"You are late" Professor Flitwick stated unimpressed. All of their classmates stared at the four boys in the door. They were a bit sweaty (except Remus) because they had been running.

"Sorry Professor" Remus mumbled. He hated to disappoint the teachers.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor, five from each of you" he announced. The other Gryffindors sent them an annoyed look. They hadn't won the House Cup last year and was therefore even more determined this year. "Take your seats."

The four boys sat down. Sirius sat down next to Remus while James took the seat next to Peter. They figured it was best to mix it up a little bit sometimes.

"As I was saying…" Professor Flitwick said with a look at the boys. "Today we'll be practising the Disarming Charm, can anyone tell me about it?"

Both Remus and Sirius raised their hands, as they wanted to make up for the lost points, but Professor Flitwick chose Dorcas Meadows to answer.

"It can make whatever your opponent in a duel is holding fall out of their hands."

"Correct, ten points to Gryffindor. The pronunciation is; ex-PELL-ee-ARE-muss. Say it with me."

The whole class said Expelliarmus along with Professor Flitwick a couple of times. Sirius hadn't learned this spell from home. He had heard about it, but his parents didn't think it was a useful spell for him and Regulus to learn, therefore they hadn't. Why disarm your enemy when you could hurt them?

"Good everyone. Find a partner and practice on each other. If you don't want to risk breaking your wands, you can borrow a normal stick from up here," Flitwick gestured to a little box with sticks about the same size as wands. Sirius went up to find a stick for him and Remus.

"Let me guess, you're already brilliant at this?" he asked with a wry smile.

"Actually no," Sirius said and looked down. "My parents didn't think it was a useful spell to learn, so I never did."

"So that means I can master a charm before you?" Remus checked. Sirius nodded. "Great. I start then" Remus took a few steps back and pointed his wand at Sirius who had a playful look in his eyes. Sirius laid his wand down at the table and pointed the stick at Remus as if that was his wand.

Remus took a few deep breaths and imagined the stick falling out of Sirius' hand.

"Expelliarmus."

The stick moved slightly but didn't quite fall out. They switched places. Sirius didn't even make the stick twitch a little bit.

They both tried more times and got better, but Remus got better much quicker and finally, he made the stick fall all the way out of Sirius' hand.

Remus couldn't believe he had mastered a charm before Sirius who was in top of basically every class. He smiled and couldn't wipe it off his face.

….

James got the stick for him and Peter as neither of them wanted to risk breaking their wands, they both loved it too much. It was a sign of them growing up, and they wouldn't be able to get a new wand just like that.

"You start?"

Peter nodded. He was ready, how much harder could the Disarming Charm be than the Slide Charm anyway? Peter took a deep breath as Remus had taught him, imagined the spell happening, and then cast it. The stick in James' hand twitched slightly (it was barely visible) but it was enough to make his mood high.

James mastered it quicker than Peter obviously, but by the end of the class, Peter managed to get the wand out of James' hand. It might not have flown a long way like many of the others managed to, but at least it got out.

Apparently, both him and Remus had had luck in that class; Remus had even mastered it before Sirius. Both of the boys happily walked towards their next class. James and Sirius walked out of the classroom as the last people.

"How come, Remus, master it before you?" James asked curiously.

Sirius shrugged his shoulders. "He's good."

"Of course he's good, but you are better, so how can he- wait. You let him?" James asked. That would be the best explanation, but it didn't make any sense. Sirius didn't answer, and he took it as a yes. "Why?"

"He might have mastered it before me anyway" Sirius quickly said. "But did you see how happy he got?"

James looked forward and spotted Peter and Remus who waited for them, Remus still had a smile on his face because of the earlier event. It was rare to see Remus smile like that, usually, he was more reserved.

"Yeah."

"It was so worth it," Sirius said even though he just _knew_ that Remus would be teasing him about it.

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 **On May 31th it's been a year since I posted the first chapter to this story, and I might not have a new chapter ready by the time, so I'm just gonna say now that I'm so happy about how far I've come with this; before I began I thought it would be impossible, but you've all helped me through it.**

 **Thanks, Y'all for reading with me, and please leave a review to tell me your thoughts on this chapter.**


	35. Operation Flamingo

**Last time: James, Sirius and Peter talk to McGonagall about Remus, and she said there was nothing to worry about. Roy Sidney reveals that he saw James flying and wants him to try out for the Quidditch team. They talk about planning a prank. Sirius let Remus master Expelliarmus before him.**

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 **Operation Flamingo**

"Expelliarmus."

Sirius sent a pointed look towards Remus as he had dropped something for the fifteenth time that Saturday. Remus tried to look innocent, but he couldn't quite hide the grin. Sirius rolled his eyes and picked up the book again. Remus had been like that since he mastered the spell before Sirius yesterday.

"Expelliarmus."

The book flew out of his hands again and Sirius sent another flat look at Remus who couldn't hold back a smile. Sirius picked the book up once more and hurried towards the table so Remus couldn't do it again.

"Found an interesting book?" Remus asked cheerfully.

Sirius rolled his eyes again. "I will find out as soon as I get to read it, but it somehow keeps getting out of my hands."

Remus grinned but tried to keep a straight face. "Weird."

"Weird indeed," Sirius said. "If it doesn't stop soon, I might have to get back at it."

Remus' smile dropped slightly. "What would you do?"

"Oh, I don't know…" Sirius dragged out the time for a dramatic effect. "I might have to hide all the chocolate and ask the house-elves to never give out any chocolate ever again…"

"You wouldn't!"

"I most definitely would-"

"Guys, if it isn't about the prank or Quidditch, you can talk about in your spare time," James exclaimed frustrated and dived into his book again.

James had been like that all day. They had tried to calm him down, but nothing had worked so far. Even Remus was getting tired of spending the day in the library. The weather outside was brilliant and they were basically the only people inside.

Remus lifted his book but glared over the top towards Sirius who had done the same.

"You wouldn't," he whispered.

"Would," Sirius whispered back.

"Wouldn't."

"Would."

"GUYS!"

Sirius and Remus both glanced at James with an apologetic look in their eyes. They knew how much it mattered to James. Quidditch meant a lot to him and if he couldn't learn some awesome tricks to impress Sidney then he might not get into the team.

"Sorry, James," Sirius said. "This is just so _boring_. All these spells and potions are either too bad or too hard for us to do, I have no idea what we could possibly find in these books that would help you with Quidditch, and I'm tired of sitting down all day when I could enjoy the weather outside before winter strikes."

Remus and Peter (who had silently been listening to the conversation) nodded.

James stared helplessly at them. "Remus, you love to study. _Please_."

"Sorry…" Remus bit his lip. He didn't want to let James down when his friend needed him, but the moon was a week away and he needed to study for classes instead of pranks.

"Maybe we could just take a little break," Sirius suggested. "And Remus; I so would."

He gasped. "What have I ever done to deserve that?"

"You kept throwing the book out of my hand!"

"So?" Remus wasn't completely sure if Sirius would actually do it or not - or at least for a little while, but he didn't like where this was going. "I'm teasing you. You want to ruin my life."

"Ruin your life? Remus are you _that_ addicted to chocolate?" Sirius continued in his joking-voice.

"I don't think it's healthy," Peter stated thoughtfully.

"It's made of cocoa beans and beans are healthy," with a pout he crossed his arms. Why did they have to attack his chocolate? Chocolate was _very_ healthy and by the way, the only thing that could make him feel better after full moons.

"Sounds legit," James replied sarcastically.

"It _is_. Study shows it makes you remember better, and it makes you happier."

"Chocolate doesn't make your memory better," James stated confidently.

"And it doesn't make you happier," Sirius added.

"It does! People remember things that have strong feelings involved better. I love chocolate and the taste makes me very happy. Which means if I eat chocolate while studying, I will remember it better," Remus sent them all a very serious look.

"Why aren't you eating chocolate now then?" Sirius smirked and had his arms crossed.

"Because it's not allowed to eat chocolate in the library."

"If not, would you?"

"I would eat chocolate all the time if it was allowed," he told truthfully. And if there was more space in his bag. Perhaps he could spare some of those Quills to carry a few chocolate bars he could eat between classes.

Sirius and Peter shook their heads at Remus. That boy would never give up when the subject was on chocolate and they knew it.

James was lost in his own thoughts. He still needed to show Sidney exactly how well he could fly so he could join the Quidditch team. He had begun listing the things he could do. Things like being on time to the tryouts - to show that he was reliable. And be a good listener when Sidney was talking to him. Though he still felt like he needed something.

He needed something that could impress someone like Sidney, but what could possibly impress Sidney? Sidney was a seventh year and had therefore seen a lot of Quidditch players and had probably already learned all the tricks, unless…

"I need to _make_ a new trick!"

Peter, Sirius and Remus stared at him with wide eyes, but he didn't mind. It was the perfect plan! If he could just do a really cool thing with the Quaffle or make an awesome thing with a dive to catch the Golden Snitch, then he would be sure to join the team.

"Make a trick?" Sirius raised his eyebrow. Even though Remus' _be careful_ plan sounded awfully boring it was probably for the best. It would be bad if James broke his leg just before the tryouts, also because it hurts. A lot.

"James maybe you should let this go a bit-"

Peter was cut off by James.

"I can't!" he bit his lip and then continued a little calmer. "I can't wait for another year to join. You don't understand; I love to fly. The wind in my hair, the speed and the adrenaline… my parents have always been proud of every little thing I've done, and I want to deserve it for ones."

Remus gently touched James' shoulder. "You're great already. If it wasn't for Sirius you would be top in a lot of classes, you _do_ deserve their approval."

James sighed loudly. "It just doesn't feel like that… I still want to join the team, but perhaps a little prank would take my mind off it a bit…" he raised his eyebrow twice.

"Okay! Fine!" he raised his arms defensively. "I actually have one…"

This immediately caught everyone's attention and they leaned forward so other students (not that there actually was any, but still) wouldn't hear the plan, only Sirius didn't. The boy seemed to be in deep thought. James gently shook him and in no time, they were joined in the circle again.

"Peter and I were making this prank last year with the babbling curse-"

"Oh, I remember that," Peter exclaimed.

James quickly shushed him and turned to Remus again.

"Anyway… instead of doing something in the great hall with stinky pumpkin slime or potions we walked around and started talking to people just to curse them with the babbling curse it was really fun because they just started babbling without knowing why and then they-" he covered his mouth and stared at Sirius who couldn't hold back a laugh.

"Sirius please take this off right now and I mean right now it's really embarrassing because usually I never talk much and honestly I don't enjoy talking this much-" he covered his mouth again. Now James and Peter were laughing as well.

"Please Sirius I don't like talking because the more I talk the more I reveal and I love you guys but there are some things I just don't like to share like when I go visit my mom every month I-" _actually go to the Shrieking Shack and transform into a werewolf_.

Remus fought against the curse, but it was strong, and he couldn't get it off. He didn't see nor hear what the others were doing because he was too busy freaking out at what he had almost revealed.

"Remus?" Peter gently shook his friend. "The curse is off now."

Slowly and hesitantly Remus removed his hands and sighed in relief when he didn't immediately start babbling. James, Sirius and Peter all stared at him with wide eyes.

"Sorry I freaked out," he mumbled and fiddled with his big sleeves.

"Sorry I cursed you," Sirius immediately responded.

"Sorry I laughed," Peter quipped in.

"Me too."

Peter didn't want to ask Remus what he had almost revealed because clearly, he wasn't comfortable with it. It didn't have to be anything serious. Perhaps he just did something embarrassing with his mom when there was no one around.

"So… uh, what was your idea for the prank?"

"Uhh… we'll learn the Dancing Feet Spell later this year and I thought that maybe we could practice it now, and prank people like the way we did with the Babbling Curse. That way we'll be doing both Homework and a prank all on one."

"The Dancing Feet Spell?" Sirius pulled out his Charms book from his bag and searched for the page.

"Don't tell me you already know it?" James groaned and bend his head backwards. "Do you seriously know every spell there is?"

"I don't know _all_ of them, and I can only do the ones from now till fourth year-"

"You can do fourth-year spells?!" Peter could barely even do second-year spells

"Uhh," Sirius scratched the back of his head. "Not all of them, and not nearly as impressive as fourth years can do them."

"Which ones do you know?" James asked interested. If Sirius could do lots of cool spells from fourth year then maybe they could make some brilliant pranks, and no one would suspect them because they were only second years.

"The Freezing Spell, Mending Charm, Summoning Charm-"

"You know the Summoning Charm?" Remus asked suddenly. Sirius nodded hesitantly. "I would love to learn that spell."

"Really?"

"Duh! Think of all the chocolate I could just summon from anywhere I was, then I could easily eat chocolate between classes without having to carry it. And my books as well. We wouldn't have to go to the tower every time we needed anything… but mostly for chocolate."

His friends rolled their eyes and laughed.

"I can teach you if you want," Sirius offered.

"That would be amazing-"

"AFTER the prank," James quickly cut in. "I think we should name it Operation Flamingo."

"Flamingo?" Peter tilted his head to the side.

"Like tango, but that would be too obvious."

"It's flamenco, actually."

"Do you have to know everything, Remus? It's details. We call it Operation Flamingo because then people can't be suspicious," James crossed his arms. His gaze moved around as if daring anyone to disagree.

"This isn't for the Halloween prank, is it?" Peter thought it would be a great prank, but when they called it The Halloween Prank, he just thought it would be something big.

"Of course not, for that we do need _something in the great hall with stinky pumpkin slime or potions_ ," James smirked, and Remus rolled his eyes.

"No matter what we plan, I don't want to join if it's something smelly."

"No dungbombs?" Sirius asked horrified.

"Remus, I don't think you understand. We can't survive without dungbombs!"

Remus rolled his eyes. It had turned out that he did that quite often, but with friends like James and especially Sirius who was always dramatic, it became necessary.

"There will be no dungbombs unless you can come up with a spell that makes me unable to smell it," Remus crossed his arms.

….

"Tatarantellategran."

"No, no, no. James it's ta-RON-ta-LEG-gra."

Seeing as Sirius was the only person who knew about and had mastered the Dancing Feet Spell, he had been giving the task of teaching the others to do it, and honestly, it was quite an impossible task.

"Tatarontatetilu?"

Peter's result wasn't better than James' at all. Nothing happened and it wasn't shocking seeing as neither of them could actually pronounce _Tarantallegra_. It wasn't _that_ hard.

"Taran… telle… talle… tarantalle… uhh, terantalle…"

Sirius shook his head. It was a good thing they were practising it already because if not they would have made fools of themselves once they had to learn it in class.

"Honestly Remus, I expected more of you," he shook his head slowly.

"Expelliarmus," Remus stuck his tongue out and Sirius went over to pick up his wand. He pointed it at Remus who instantly took a few steps back. Sirius grinned and put his wand away.

"As if I would ever hex you, Remy."

"Remy?" he frowned. "And you did in the library moments ago."

"Doesn't friends give each other nicknames?"

"Yes, but Remy? Couldn't you come up with a better one?"

"Can you?"

"I'm not supposed to give myself a nickname, I'm supposed to give you a nickname."

"Then give me one."

Peter shook his head; sometimes Sirius and Remus were arguing over the stupidest things. From time to time it seemed as if they looked for things to argue about, but they were never mean to each other. It was always clear that it was only joking, so Peter wasn't worried.

He looked at James who rolled his eyes and gestured to Remus and Sirius who were arguing about if Siri was a good nickname or not. Peter liked it quite frankly. His own nickname would be obvious; Pete. There weren't much else to do with 'Peter'.

"Do you understand the pronunciation yet?" he asked.

"Nope, and to think this was an easy spell," James shook his head, "why do they even spell it one way and then say it a whole other. It doesn't make any sense at all."

Peter shrugged his shoulders. Not much in the world make sense.

He pulled out the book and James glanced at the page over his shoulder.

"ta… RON… ta… LEG… gra… why is it pronounced _Ron_ when it says 'ran'?" Peter frowned.

"I could ask the same question, Pete… hey that should be your nickname," James' lips curled into a smile and he clapped his hands together.

"Then I'll call you Jame because apparently, we're just removing the last letter of our names." Peter flushed when James laughed. It felt nice to make others laugh.

….

After five days of constant practising (with a few unnecessary breaks like class and sleep) the four boys had all learned the dancing feet spell, more or less. And the time had come to show it to the outer world.

Remus had wanted them to go up to people and perform the curse so that the victims would know it was them and have a laugh about it, but James and Sirius didn't think people would find it that funny, Peter pointed out that they could just prank older students who were with friends so somebody could perform the counter-curse. They all agreed to that.

The four boys were walking down the hallways right before supper, seeking out their first victim of Operation Flamingo. It took some time, but finally, they ran into some fifth year Ravenclaws.

They hid behind a wall, James peaked over, neither of them was looking his way so he took the shot and cast the curse. The taller one of them began dancing uncontrollably. Sirius, Peter and Remus also peeked slightly around the corner. The smallest Ravenclaw had taken a step back when it happened but was now laughing at the sight in front of her.

Sirius cast the curse at the other Ravenclaw when some Hufflepuffs and a Gryffindor came by. Remus made short eye contact with the Gryffindor. Quickly, he pulled the other's away because clearly, they were too busy staring at the dancing Ravenclaws, but not before James aimed the curse at another student.

"Guys, we agreed on one!" Remus crossed his arms.

"Chill Remy, nothing happened," Sirius raised his hands defensively and laughed it off. He took James' hand, ran with him towards the next hallway and peeked around the corner. No one was there so they turned left and kept running. Peter was torn between following them and staying with Remus who stood still.

"Remus, are you coming?" Peter didn't want to leave Remus alone. No prank was worth that.

"We agreed on one," he repeated.

"I know, but you should tell them. Come on, we gotta hurry if we wanna catch up."

He sighed. "Alright." Remus slowly began running towards Peter, and they made it to the end of the empty hallway where James and Sirius had disappeared.

They weren't there.

"Where did they go?"

"No idea." Peter looked up and down the hallways again. They looked exactly the same. Sometimes Hogwarts could feel like a labyrinth, and he had more than once suspected the walls changed themselves from time to time.

….

Meanwhile, James and Sirius had cursed at least seven other students on their way around the castle, and some way or another they discovered a hidden corridor behind a tapestry. It was only lit by a few torches. Sirius was about to ask if they could leave when James' finger was suddenly on his lips.

They could hear two voices talking together. A boy and a girl. A very specific little snake and a very pretty lion.

James slowly lead the way until they spotted the two figures around the corner.

"Be ready to run," he whispered as quietly as he could. Sirius quickly nodded.

James turned around the corner again, he aimed at the figure with the black hair. Snivellus was barely visible so it took some time before he was a hundred percent sure exactly where he was standing. Once he was sure, James didn't even hesitate one second before casting the curse.

They only heard the horrified shriek as Snivellus began dancing uncontrollably before they were running out of the corridor again. The two only just made it out on the other side of the tapestry when they stopped suddenly because in front of them were none other than Mr Filch and Mrs Norris.

"Are you two up to trouble?" Filch almost looked happy to have caught them making mischief.

"No, of course not," James quickly replied. He and Sirius turned around, ready to take off, but that was the moment Evans decided to show up from behind the tapestry.

By casting a quick glance at the boys and Filch, she hastily made a decision.

"They hexed Severus," she pointed at them.

Filch probably didn't even care if Evans was lying as long as he got to punish someone. His lips curled into a creepy smile.

"My office at seven tonight!"

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Oh god, it has taken me long to update this and I'm so sorry!

I really hoped you enjoyed this chapter :))


	36. Bowtruckle

**Last time: the guys prepare for and perform Operation Flamingo; using the Dancing Feet spell on as many students as possible. James and Sirius hex Snape which causes Evans to turn them in. Both James and Sirius got detention with Filch.**

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 **Bowtruckle**

Peter turned around the corner, but quickly stepped back and bumped into Remus who stumbled a few steps backwards. He had seen Mr Filch talking to James and Sirius.

"What's going on?"

"Filch is there," Peter whispered.

Remus' eyes widened with realization. If Filch was there it definitely meant their friends had gotten or would get detention. It was inevitable, really. Filch seized every opportunity to punish students for whatever he could, and everyone knew that.

"Should we do something?" Peter didn't actually want to. There probably wasn't anything they could do anyway; only get detention themselves, and Peter knew how much Remus hated that.

"It's them who wasn't careful enough, and besides I don't think there's anything we can do."

Peter nodded in agreement.

"Are you going to gloat?" he asked suddenly.

Remus shrugged his shoulders. "Probably. Do you think they'll hex me if I do?"

Peter also shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe, but not if you hex them first."

Remus giggled. "You're right about that." But Remus didn't think he would be able to hex them like that.

….

"My office at seven tonight!" said Filch with his raspy voice. Mrs Norris hissed and they walked away together.

James immediately turned on Evans.

"What was that for?!" his head had gone slightly red.

"You hexed Sev!" she crossed her arms.

"So what? You can't just go against your own house!"

Evans' eyes widened and eyebrows raised. "I can if it's to protect my friend!"

"You call that snake your friend? You clearly need to sort out your priorities!"

"Sort out my priorities? What about you? Maybe _you_ should start paying attention to school instead of planning stupid pranks all the time!"

James was about to fire something back at her when Sirius grabbed his hand harshly and quickly dragged him away from her. They only just turned around the corner when they saw Peter and Remus.

"Where'd you two disappear off to?" Sirius asked and let go of James' hand. He hadn't liked how James' head got all red and how he yelled at Evans. It wasn't the usual sweet and kind friend he knew.

"Where'd you two disappear off to?" Peter crossed his arms. "You abandoned us. The only way we found you again was because we followed the trail of dancing students. I thought we agreed to be subtle."

"We technically didn't," Sirius said.

"We should have," Remus interjected, "seeing as it was you two who got detention and not us."

Sirius crossed his arms and stuck out his tongue. "Just be glad we didn't turn you two in as well."

Remus huffed, smiled wryly. "Thanks."

"No problem at all, _Remy_. Anyway, we better eat before detention," Sirius turned to James, who nodded.

"We should pick up our mirrors first if he gives us detention two different places. We'll see you down there?" He said the first part to Sirius and the second part to Remus and Peter.

….

Turned out that the idea with the mirrors was great because Sirius was set to dust off old books and James to clean cauldrons. Both of them was locked up and was without supervision. It created a perfect amount of time to talk about all sorts of ridiculous things.

"Do you think stars have feelings?"

James rolled his eyes. "How should stars be able to have feelings?"

"Professor Sprout said that..." Sirius coughed. "She said that plants have feelings, so why shouldn't stars have?" He tried to read the title of the book in his hands, but it was way too covered in dust.

"Because plants are living things, and stars are stars."

"How do you know if stars aren't living?"

"If they were alive, do you really think they would stay the same place all the time?" James' arm had become sore from all the cauldron scrubbing, but he knew that if Filch wasn't satisfied with his work, he would have to do it all over again.

"Plants also stay in the same place their entire life."

James paused. "I just don't think they're alive. I think people would've discovered by now if that was the case.

"Shooting stars move," Sirius reasoned.

James shook his head. "Let's change the subject."

"Okay…" he took a deep breath. "Do books have feelings?"

"New subject!"

"No, I mean it. Do you think books have feelings? Do they get sad when no one reads them, do they get jealous? They're made from plants."

"Yes, but now they're dead."

"Oh right…" Sirius scratched the back of his head. "What about when you press a flower in a book, do you kill it or make it immortal?"

"Sirius—"

"Alright."

Sirius got back to dusting off the books, but James hesitated. They were silent for a few moments and the only sound that could be heard was their breathing.

"Are we going to talk about earlier?" James asked suddenly which caused Sirius to stop.

"About what?" He hesitantly got back to work.

"About why you dragged me away from Evans. You looked quite pale." James didn't ask because he wanted to dig into anything or pressure Sirius, but to find out if anything he did was a problem, so he could stop.

Sirius dragged the time out as much as he could. "I just don't like it when people yell at each other, it's no big deal."

"Would it make you happy if I didn't do it again?"

He settled for nodding.

"Okay, then I'll never ever yell again."

This brought a smile to Sirius' lips and he continued in a more joking voice. "I didn't say never ever, just—"

"Be careful with it," James smiled. "I'll try. It just pissed me off, you know. Why would Evans turn us in? We could've lost house points. I kinda want to win this year, it would be cool."

"To win we must either stop making pranks or never get caught," Sirius picked out a little book. It wasn't dusty at all, almost like it was protected. He read the title, and that immediately got his attention.

"Never get caught is basically our only option then," James answered jokingly.

"Speaking of pranks, I think I found the perfect one for Halloween."

….

"I still can't believe we didn't get detention," Peter said out loud. They had been rather quiet since James and Sirius left. When the other boys were gone, Remus saw it as his opportunity to get some studying done seeing as there was a full moon the next day, and he would use basically all of Sunday on recovering.

"They didn't get detention for the prank, but rather for hexing Snape, so it's not that surprising," Remus pointed out.

Peter shrugged his shoulders. "I guess you're right."

"I wonder why they seem to dislike him so much," Remus thought out loud. Snape mentioned something about something that happened on the train in their first year when he caught them preparing for the Sliding Prank.

"I guess it's because he's a Slytherin, they're all stinky bastards."

"Sirius' brother is a Slytherin."

"He isn't exactly an angel," Peter answered without missing a heartbeat.

They didn't know exactly what happened to Sirius, or why he was mad at his brother. But they did know that Regulus had hurt Sirius and didn't want to apologize because he didn't think that whatever he did (or didn't do) was worth apologizing for.

"I guess you're right, but still. It can't just be because of that, there has to be something else."

"Yeah, there is. We'll just ask them sometime."

Remus nodded. He quickly found some chocolate and began on the homework they had gotten the past week.

Peter observed him and smiled to himself. Remus and his chocolate.

….

"Polyjuice Potion?"

Both Sirius and James nodded enthusiastically. Sirius had found the potion in one of the books he had been dusting off the day before, it probably wasn't meant for students to find, but Sirius had 'borrowed' it. Just until after Halloween.

They had decided to propose the idea for the others the day after their detention towards breakfast. It would be perfect. Everybody in the great hall would turn into one specific person and there would just be so much confusion.

"Exactly!" Sirius exclaimed. "It allows the drinker to turn into someone. It takes about a month to brew, so we got just enough time. And the fluxweed needs to be picked during the full moon, so we'll have to do it this weekend."

"It's going to be amazing. Imagine if we made everyone turn into Dumbledore or McGonagall. Even better; Filch." James' eyes glinted.

"Don't you think it's a little too advanced?" Remus knew one of them had to be sceptical, it could be fun, but he wasn't sure about it. On the other hand, at least, nothing would smell bad.

"I know you two are great—" Peter said before neither James nor Sirius could get a word in. "But me and Remus aren't. And this is tough even for you."

"We'll figure it out," Sirius quickly said. "Come on; imagine the chaos. Imagine a hall full of me! I know it would improve everyone at the school—"

"I can't handle more than one Sirius at the time!" James covered Sirius' mouth. "But a hall full of me—"

"Would be weird," Remus cut in. "Everyone would be able to know everything about your body. Every little detail, every little scar. Do you want that?"

"Okay… Dumbledore then—"

"No," Remus cut James off again. "He's taller than most people here. It'll just rip their uniforms apart."

"Then they'll just buy new ones, no big deal." James couldn't know that he was completely wrong. He had always had all the things he had ever needed and couldn't imagine that someone might not have had it the same way.

"Not everyone can afford that," Remus bit his lip, fiddled with his sleeve. "I'm such a party pooper."

"No, Remus, you're not. You're just realistic, and we obviously need that. So, we just need to get the hair of the smallest person in the school…" Sirius glanced at Remus and the others quickly followed suit.

"Nope, no, no! You're not transforming everyone into me!"

Not only would be it humiliating for everyone in the school to be able to see every inch of his skin for Merlin knows how long, but there would also be a very big chance of someone discovering his secret.

"Okay. Geez Remy," Peter laughed. "There's probably some first years who are smaller than you."

"Maybe," James added with a goofy grin.

Remus hit him playfully. "Come on! I'm not that small."

"Not that small? You're practically a bowtruckle." Sirius used his two fingers to show exactly how small he thought Remus was.

"I'm much bigger than a bowtruckle." Remus crossed his arms.

"Aw." He pulled Remus' cheeks and continued in a baby voice. "You look so cute when you're angry."

Remus slapped his hands away. "Stop it. I'm not cute," he said, the others heard, and all laughed. "I'm really not that small!"

"Are you half-bowtruckle or something?" Peter grinned, "because that would explain a lot."

"Am not! My dad is actually really tall—"

"So it's your mom who's a bowtruckle?" Sirius quickly asked.

"No one in my family is a bowtruckle - or any other kind of beast…"

Luckily none of the other's noticed how he trailed off at the last part; they were too busy laughing their heads off. Remus laughed as well and prayed that it didn't seem weird.

"Anyway, we can figure out who to transform into later. Firstly, we need the most basic ingredients, what are they again?" James turned to Sirius who still had the book. It was hidden in his bag.

"Lacewing flies, leeches, fluxweed, knotgrass, horn of bicorn and boomslang skin. There's nothing left for us to do than start—"

"We don't have time to do it," Remus suddenly said. He had been reading the list beside Sirius, and something had caught his eye. Also something else, but he decided not to think about that at the moment.

"What do you mean? There's lots of time." James took the book and scanned the page hastily.

"The lacewing flies have to be stewed twenty-one days prior to making the potion, and then the potion has to stew for a whole month before we can use it, so there's no way we have time to for this." Remus couldn't handle the way the smiles on his friends faces disappeared. "Unless…" he didn't actually know what they could do, but hoped to come up with something.

"Unless what?" James practically bounced.

"Unless…"

The four boys entered the great hall. Remus took a quick glance around and spotted the Professors at the big table. Dumbledore wasn't there, but all the other professors were, including Hagrid. Professor Eckbird chatted with Slughorn who looked a tiny bit too complacent.

An idea suddenly popped into his head.

"You know how Slughorn store Potions in his office so he can present them to his classes? I don't think he minds sharing a little bit."

The other boys immediately caught on.

"This is why we love you, Remus!" James swung his arm around Remus' shoulder and laughed. Neither he nor Sirius would probably ever have gotten that idea. Once again, he was happy, they had all become friends.

He had thought that Peter and Remus would be boring, and never want to pull a prank for anything in the world, but they had both proved him wrong. The two loved pranks just as much as Sirius and him.

"We should do it soon so that if Slughorn notices, he will hopefully forget about it." Peter always thought of the way they could avoid getting caught, because he knew how much Remus hated it. Remus sent him a little thankful smile, which he returned.

"Agreed!" Sirius quickly said. "But firstly, James has to try out for the Quidditch team tomorrow."

Suddenly James' throat felt dry. "Right."

….

He woke up early and couldn't fall asleep again. No matter how many times he tossed and turned around it was impossible.

 _I can do it. I can do it. I can do it._

James took a deep breath to calm himself down. Sidney –the captain of the Quidditch team- had already said that James was a good flyer, so his chances of joining the team were pretty big.

He hadn't exactly learned any new tricks or made a trick as he had wanted, but it was all still going to be okay. The captain of the Quidditch team liked him, and his friends would be there to support him. They had all promised to come to the tryouts.

The alarm clock finally beeped, he jumped out of his bed and ran towards the bathroom to take a shower. He was going to make a good impression. He was going to join the team and be the best Quidditch player the school had ever seen.

After a quick shower, he stood in front of the mirror. James slowly reached out for Sirius' hairbrush… his friend wouldn't mind, right? Finally, he just took the brush and tried to make his hair look at least a little bit decent… but after several minutes he realized that it was impossible.

He ran his hands through a couple of times, and actually liked how it looked. It was like the wind had done its job. As he had just gotten off the broom after a Quidditch match.

There was a knock on the door.

"James you better hurry up or I'll miss coming to the tryouts with you." Sirius was yelling from the other side of the door. Usually, he liked to lay in bed for a while before waking up, but he wouldn't miss supporting James for the world.

James hurriedly opened the door.

"How do I look?"

"Like a complete moron, now get out."

James stuck his tongue but walked out anyway. He picked up the broom from under his bed that his parents had given him so he could join the team. He had been practising Quidditch with Sirius all summer, and surely that would come in handy now.

Peter was still sitting in his bed and stretching. He had expected Remus to be dressed already, but the other boy was still asleep under the covers. He went over there and was about to shake him.

"James stop!"

James suddenly remembered how Remus usually reacted to people waking him up. He unconsciously took a few steps back. He went over to his own bed, picked up his pillow, threw it at Remus and (of course) hit perfectly.

Remus sat up suddenly, looked around the room, rolled his eyes at James, fell down again and turned around. James frowned. Usually, Remus was the first out of bed so he could read a little before breakfast.

"Remus, there are tryouts for the Quidditch team today. You gotta get up or I'll be late." Simply the thought of being late made him sweat. When did they make the dorms so hot? He pulled in his shirt to let in a little air.

"Five more minutes," Remus mumbled.

James sent a look towards Peter who shrugged his shoulders.

"Why don't you and Sirius go ahead, then Remus and I'll catch up." Peter glanced at Remus. "If I can get him up… look, don't worry. We won't miss the tryouts, but we don't want you to be late, so just go."

"Okay… okay," James nodded. Mostly to himself.

Sirius came out of the bathroom. His hair was put into a tiny little ponytail.

James raised his eyebrow at Sirius. "Isn't that a bit girly?"

"Why?" His hands ran through his hair. "I just didn't want my hair to get all wet. You of all people should know how much time I can use in the bathroom."

When the two spend time together that summer, they were playing in the garden, which had resulted in mud on their clothes. Sirius had spent one and a half hour in the shower to get all the mud and leaves out of his hair. James hadn't cared and some of it was possibly still there.

"Still, back me up guys," James turned to the others.

Peter nodded. Remus sat up and stared at Sirius with half-open eyes.

"I think it looks great." He suppressed a yawn.

"Wow, what's up with you?" Sirius fixed his shirt.

"Huh? Nothing." Remus stretched.

"Why are you so tired? You're usually the first person out of bed."

Remus shrugged. "I couldn't fall asleep last night."

"Are you visiting your mom tonight?" Peter asked suddenly. He had earlier suspected Remus couldn't fall asleep the day before he was going to visit her, and that was the reason he was always so tired.

The others looked surprised.

"Uhm, yeah I am… how'd you know?" He fiddled with his sleeve.

"It's just that you're always tired before you visit her, so I figured that you couldn't fall asleep because you were too worried."

Remus looked down, closed his eyes and nodded.

"Do you…" James searched his brain for the right words. "Do you want to talk about it? Because we're here if you want to."

Sirius and Peter nodded in agreement. Remus looked at all of them and smiled. "Thanks, guys, but it's fine. I'm used to it. Anyway, you better go or else you'll be late."

Suddenly all the nerves came back to James.

… **.**

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Sometimes it takes forever for me to find something so that I can finish a chapter, other times I have a great idea for what could happen, but a lot of things has to happen first, so they fill the entire chapter before the thing I was supposed to write about actually happens. *sigh*

Anyway, I really hoped you enjoyed this, and I promise, the Quidditch tryouts will happen in the next chapter.


	37. Reserve Potter

**Last time: Sirius and James served detention, meanwhile Sirius found an old Potions book with the recipe for Polyjuice Potion. Remus points out that they don't have enough time to make it before Halloween, but they can 'borrow' something from Slughorn. It's the morning of the tryouts and James is nervous.**

.:lll:.

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 **Reserve Potter**

James took a deep breath, grabbed his broom and began walking. Sirius followed by his side – still with the ponytail in his hair. A few other Gryffindors were heading the same direction, a bunch of them was also carrying brooms.

The ceiling in the Great Hall revealed that the sun was shining, but a few clouds also flew across it. It was mainly Gryffindors who were up. James spotted a few of the players from last year, including Sally Thompson and Eileen Hill. But there was also a dozen of other students like Sebastian Pat (who was their prefect) and David Jensen.

"I've never thought of Pat as the Quidditch-type, what do you think he'll play?" Sirius asked. They had sat down at the table and James quickly filled up his plate. He would need strength if he was going to beat the other students.

James sent a look over there. "Beater. His body is built for it. It's a lot like Sidney's." he gestured towards the Quidditch Captain who just now left the Great Hall.

"Big arms and broad shoulders."

He nodded. "Exactly."

While James concentrated on eating some breakfast, Sirius looked around the room. More Gryffindors who wanted to watch the tryouts has also gotten up, but Sirius concentrated merely on the players.

"I think you have a fair chance of getting in," he said at last.

"Seriously?" James didn't realize his mistake.

"Yes, _Siriusly_ , what else?" He smirked.

James groaned as response. He had _got_ to watch his language because he couldn't stand another 'serious' joke. Sirius always made them at any given opportunity.

"Last flying class, when you made that trick, I looked at Madam Hooch and she looked genuinely impressed. You got some skills."

"But they never let second years play—"

"Once got to be the first," Sirius quickly replied. "We better go by the way."

None of the other people had left yet, but James had already told Sirius that he wanted to be there before it started. The earlier the better. He picked up his broom and followed Sirius out. Some people looked at them and then got up as well.

They met Remus and Peter on the way. Remus had brought a beanie, scarf and gloves. It was cold outside, but not _that_ cold. Peter shrugged his shoulders when they noticed the look they shared. Then they raised their eyebrows at Remus.

Remus noticed and crossed his arms. "I don't wanna catch a cold," he mumbled. "When are the tryouts starting?"

"In about half an hour, so you still got time. We're just gonna go there now to make sure we're on time," Sirius quickly replied. James nodded slowly. He liked these small breaks from reality. Why couldn't it just be over already?

James snapped back when Sirius began dragging him outside. Just as the ceiling in the Great Hall had revealed, the sun outside was shining and a few clouds decorated the blue, but what the ceiling hadn't revealed was that it was cold.

Sirius hugged himself. "I guess Remus wasn't so crazy after all."

"Hmm." James didn't realize he had stopped walking before Sirius grabbed his hand and began dragging him towards the field. He let the other boy drag him as he wasn't sure he would be able to walk down there on his own.

He jerked back to reality when Sirius hit his cheeks repeatedly. He felt the blood rushing through his veins, then slapped Sirius' hands away.

"Snap out of it!" he exclaimed. "You have to focus on the task ahead. Don't worry about everyone else; just think about what _you_ can do to get in."

"I can't! If I want to join, I have to be one of the best, but I'm not. _Five_ of the Quidditch players from last year got a chance to try out again, that leaves two spots open. Chaser and Beater, and I'm not a beater, so I only got one chance. So, I have to beat _everyone_!"

"But don't think about it," Sirius continued. "Their good chances don't have to stand in the way of yours. You're amazing, so you have to throw everyone else out of your head, and just focus on flying."

James nodded and took a deep breath. Sirius was right - and he knew it.

.:lll:.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room as soon as James and Peter had left. Remus avoided eye-contact - he was afraid to give something away, even though he wasn't sure what it should be. Peter wondered if he should just have kept his mouth shut. Remus didn't like it when people mentioned his mom.

"Remus, what's up?" he asked carefully.

He shrugged. "I didn't know you noticed how tired I am, that's all."

Peter frowned. " _Everybody_ notices," he stated. "The professors certainly do, because none of them gets mad at you when you fall asleep in class. Except for professor Eckbird, but you don't look nearly as tired in his classes."

Remus still didn't meet his gaze, so Peter had trouble knowing how he felt about it.

"Do you want to take a shower?" Peter asked carefully to change the subject.

"No. No, it's fine." Remus got up from the bed and found his clothes. "I'm just going to change." He paused right before entering the bathroom. "Sorry I'm acting like this, I just didn't know that people knew, that's all."

"I don't think everybody notices," Peter said with a sigh of relief. "Maybe someone notices from time to time, the Professors notice though."

"I guess they're aware which days I'm going away and then takes it a bit easy on me." He shrugged his shoulders, then closed the door behind him.

Peter began changing from pyjamas too. Sometimes Remus could be a little odd, and Peter wondered why. For some reason, he freaked about the fact that people noticed him, and for some reason, he didn't seem to like professor Eckbird. Of course, the man was scary, but if he put that aside, Eckbird was a pretty great teacher. He knew exactly how to captivate them with his stories about all the dark creatures, like the time he ran into a werewolf, or when he fought a bear.

Remus came out wearing a red jumper. He went for the trunk to pick up his cape, a beanie, a scarf and gloves. Peter raised his eyebrow at him.

"I don't wanna catch a cold," he explained when he saw Peter's expression. "Come on, don't we have to go?"

On their way towards the Great Hall, they ran into James and Sirius who were heading out. Peter noticed they wore the same expression as he had moments before, he shrugged his shoulders when they looked at him. It wasn't _that_ cold outside.

Remus noticed their looks and crossed his arms. "I don't wanna catch a cold," he mumbled. "When are the tryouts starting?"

"In about half an hour, so you still got time. We're just gonna go there now to make sure we're on time," Sirius quickly replied. James nodded slowly. Peter couldn't begin to imagine how nervous James was.

He had wanted to join himself too, but he was rubbish at even staying at the broom, so why should he even bother?

"We'll see you in a bit then," Peter replied. He and Remus headed for the Great Hall while Sirius dragged James outside. Many of the students who were going to try out headed out just as they headed in.

They quickly ate and then went outside. As soon as the cold air reached Peter, he hugged himself. There was a little smug smile on Remus' lips as he pulled the beanie further down his head.

They found Sirius and James talking, then quickly joined them. Just then, the Quidditch Captain -Sidney- called all the players towards him.

"Break a leg," Remus casually said.

James and Sirius both shared the same horrified expression. Peter suppressed a laugh. Sometimes the lack of knowledge purebloods had of muggle-culture was pretty hilarious.

"Why would you say something like that?!" Sirius asked.

Remus smiled wryly. "It's an expression. Muggles say it instead of 'good luck'."

James shook his head. "Muggles are weird." Most of the students were already in front of Sidney. James muttered a quick 'thank you' and then hurried towards them.

The others headed towards the stands. Sirius took a quick scan around to make sure no one from the other houses was present. His eyes then found James, who was easily one of the smallest persons in the crowd.

.:lll:.

Muggles was indeed something. Why create a new word for another word which had the same meaning? James shook his head as he thought about it again, then he reached the group of people, and quickly pushed himself towards the front.

"Great, everyone is here?" Sidney talked loudly. "If there are any first years here, you can just go now. You can't join the team." A few people left. "Anyway, the rest of you can fly fifty times around the field." He gestured. "It's not a competition, I just want to see how good y'all are."

The students nodded.

"Well, off you go."

The group spread out to give each other some space to start. Once James was in the air, he instantly felt better. It was like all the nerves and all the fears had been left at the ground. The wind grabbed his hair and pulled it back, making it even more tangled than before.

He felt as if he could finally breathe prober again. James sped up even though Sidney had said it wasn't a competition, but come on, of course, it was. He made a good distance to the other people, glanced down to see when Sidney was looking at him, and then did a three-hundred- and sixty-degrees loop.

James smiled to himself. Everything seemed a lot better from up there. Some of the others had trouble flying straight, including Marlene McKinnon who he hadn't noticed before. Though it seemed as if he was better than a lot of them.

Finally, he finished the fifty rounds and easily landed on the ground again. After a while, Sidney just called the last ones down.

"Okay, it's looking great everyone. We'll be starting with those who want to try out as chasers and keepers. Chasers, you'll go over there." Sidney pointed to his left. "Keepers here, and the rest just goes over there."

James joined the group of chasers. McKinnon wasn't one of them. Though he spotted Sally Thompson, he couldn't see Theodore Allen anywhere who was on the team last year. Maybe he just wanted to focus on his N.E.W.T.s? James felt a rush through his stomach - it meant there was a bigger chance he would get in.

Other than that, there was a couple of fourth years, but mainly fifth and sixth years.

He looked to where his friends were sitting. Peter and Sirius both hugged themselves and clapped their hands together to get warm, funnily enough, Remus did the same even though he was wearing a scarf, beanie and gloves. Sirius sent him a thumbs up.

Along the keepers were Kelly Clubs, Martin Pors, Leo Prang and many others. They were fit, also kind of tall. A keeper had to be fast, flexible, strong and have quick reflexes if they should keep the Quaffle out of the goals.

Sidney started by lining up the chasers and beaters in two rows. One person from each line flew up. Each person got one throw, and each keeper got to block one ball, though they had to fly down to the back of the line to try again.

It wouldn't be fair if the best chaser got the best keeper, but that keeper was just a tiny bit better and blocked the ball. Also, if anyone wanted to try out for both the keeper and chaser position, they just joined the other line when they flew down.

James studied each keeper closely - if he could figure out their weaknesses, he could use it to his advantage. There were more chasers than keepers, so they had to try more times. It seemed as if James had to play against Eileen Hill who had been keeper the year before.

On the bright side: if he managed to score, it would impress Sidney. On the downside: it would be almost impossible for him to do so. Hill had been the best keeper they had had for _years_ (or so he had heard). Frankly, he didn't know why the others even bothered to try. On the other hand, he was also trying to surmount something almost impossible.

His turn came sooner than expected, nevertheless, James accepted the Quaffle and flew up, while Hill flew up to be in front of the goals. She had blocked every time, except once: so, James had a chance. Now, the person she didn't block threw the Quaffle on the left side of her, which was a difficult shot as he either had to get close to the left side of the goal or throw with his left hand.

No matter which one he decided for, it would be difficult, though still the best shot he got.

He turned around, flew a few meters, took a deep breath, turned around again and flew straight forward. There was a good chance Hill would underestimate him, therefore his crazy idea might work. James held the Quaffle in his right hand, prepared to throw it to the right. He launched forward but in the last second. Shifted hands and shot with his left hand instead.

For just a tiny second, James had thought it would work as Hill had flown to her right. Though, just in time, she saw what he had done and managed to touch the Quaffle with just her fingertips, which was enough to make it miss by only a few centimetres.

His heart sank drastically.

The two next times, he scored, which brightened his mood a bit, also, his friends cheered on him. Mostly Sirius and Peter, but he couldn't blame Remus. It seemed as if he had trouble even staying awake.

For the next part, the keepers had to sit out, and the chasers, beaters and seekers had to complete an obstacle course. A bunch of tall cones had been placed on a straight line. They had to zig-zag around them, then fly straight through the goals, sprint as fast as they could towards the goals on the other side of the field, dive straight down and land safely. The beaters had to hold a bat throughout the whole thing.

It went great for James. He got through the cones easily, and also flew pretty fast past across the field. The dive was insane, but it was great.

Then it was the Seekers turn.

Now, James wanted to try out as both seeker and chaser because he was great at both, so he stayed on the field. Sidney was throwing golf balls for them, and they had to catch them in pairs of two, as you would always play against another seeker in a Quidditch match.

Some of the others were a bit better than him, but James tried to block them out, and just focus on himself. He didn't catch any of the golf balls, but he was close a couple of times. It wasn't fair because he was playing against last year's seeker: Julie McKinnon. Marlene McKinnon's big sister.

Finally, he had the time to just sit down. All the positions he had wanted to try out for, had had their chance, so now he just had to wait.

.:lll:.

Sirius was on the edge of his seat every time James was in the air. He knew how much it meant to James and hoped for everything in the world he would get into the team.

Remus' head landed on his shoulder again. He debated whether to wake him up, or not because he clearly needed to sleep. At last, he carefully shook his shoulder until Remus stirred and sat up again.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"Maybe you should just go to sleep, James will understand," Peter said. Sirius nodded.

However, Remus shook his head. "I wanna support him. How's it going anyway?"

"Well… he's good, obviously, but so are the others. I'm not sure. Julie McKinnon will be Seeker again; her reflexes are quick and she's great. He has a bigger chance of becoming Chaser because Sally Thompson is the only Chaser from last year, but even those chances are slim."

"He's the best in our year," Peter said.

"But he still has to beat all the others."

Sirius and Peter both stared at Remus as he yawned.

"You're not usually this tired," Sirius stated with a frown.

Remus shrugged. "I was a little behind on homework, so I did it before I went to bed."

"All you ever do is homework; how can you be behind?" Peter wasn't even as much behind as Remus.

"Okay… I'm not behind, but there's a lot of spells I struggle with because I never get time to practice in class, same with potions. And it's especially hard in History of Magic because I have to look everything up in the library."

Sirius slung his arm around him. "You should've told us sooner. I'll be more than happy to help you with the spells and potions you struggle with, and I'm sure we can take turns taking notes for you."

Remus turned. "You would do that for me?"

He smiled softly. Remus looked sweet with big eyes and morning hair. "Of course, what else are friends for?" He held a little tighter around him.

Remus scooted closer, happy for the extra warmth coming from his friend. "Thanks."

Peter returned their attention to the field as he spoke. "Sidney is announcing who made the team."

.:lll:.

Turned out that taking a break wasn't as great as James had thought, it was worse. When he was flying it was if all thoughts vanished from his head, but when just sitting down, there was nothing to distract him.

Seeing as Sidney would be Beater, there was only one spot left. A bunch of different people of different sizes and colours (though they all had the 'beater body' that was required) were ready to do their best. James wasn't the only person who had practised during the Summer Holidays.

He wasn't sure if it took too long, or not long enough, but finally, Sidney was ready to announce who had made the team. His heart pressed against his chest.

"Listen up everyone cause I'm only saying this once. Alex Drastrup you're Beater. Eileen Hill is Keeper. Julie McKinnon is Seeker. Sally Thompson, Maina Clubs and Noah Dahl, you're Chasers."

Sidney continued talking, but James didn't hear a word that was being said. He hadn't made it. He would have to wait another whole year before he could join. All the time he had spent practising, the broom his parents had bought was all wasted.

But suddenly he heard his name.

"…are all goona be reserves if you want to."

"What?"

Sidney turned his head and repeated himself. "You can be a reserve if you want to."

"Reserve?"

"Yeah. You were some of the best people here, but you'll need more experience. So, you can train with the team whenever you want, and you'll have to be ready to step in for every game. I know it might suck right now, but it will help if you want to join next year." With that said, Sidney walked away.

James stood frozen, not truly believing what he was hearing. It wasn't until someone touched his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" It was Sirius who asked. Remus and Peter stood next to him, all three of them looked sorry.

"Uh, DUH!" His smile surprised them. "Of course, I'm okay! Sidney gave me a better chance for next year! I mean I was afraid I wouldn't even. But this is amazing! I'm gonna be training with them, and I'll maybe even get to play! This is just…" he struggled to find the right words, but his friends probably got what he meant because he had the biggest smile on his face, and he was jumping up and down.

Their frowns turned upside down.

"I'm awesome."

Sirius snorted.

"Say it! Say that I'm awesome," James dared.

"Only if you catch me!"

With that said Sirius began sprinting, with James only a few seconds behind, then Peter came and finally Remus.

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 **I'm terribly sorry it has taken me so long to update.**

 **I started at this new school, and it takes up a lot of my time + I was in the Quidditch League competition, but that is over now, so I'll hopefully be able to write more on this one.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and want to leave a little review :D**


	38. More chocolate eating

**Last time: Sirius promises Remus that he will help him with the spells and potions he struggles with, plus taking notes for him. James tries out for the Quidditch team and sadly doesn't make it, but he becomes Reserve and will, therefore, have a greater chance of joining next year.**

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 **More chocolate eating**

They had only just finished dinner and Remus was already eating chocolate. The others paid no mind - this was normal behaviour after all. James was filled with energy and just wanted some way to use it all, but he knew Remus was tired and therefore just jumped on his bed. Sirius had joined him, and Peter as well.

Out of breath and sweaty the boys let themselves fall on the bed, only interrupted by Remus.

"Sirius?" He seemed almost ashamed. "Do you think you can help me now?"

"Sure." Sirius was quickly on his feet. "But do you think it's a good idea if you're tired, perhaps we should wait." Remus reached for his sleeve. "Then we can also begin your Accio lessons at the same time," he quickly added.

Remus smiled wryly, remembering his grand plans of summoning chocolate between classes. "Yeah, that sounds great."

"What should we do now then?" James asked. "Wanna play Chess or Exploding Snap?"

They spend the rest of the afternoon playing cards, laughing and having fun. Remus took an hour-long nap before supper, which made him feel just a little better. He brought his cloak to the Great Hall so he could go straight to the Hospital Wing. The others were under the impression he took the floo from there.

Sirius hugged Remus goodbye (he still never missed an opportunity, and now he wouldn't be able to hug Remus for an entire day). James and Peter also joined in. Remus sighed happily, it was moments like these he both loved and hated at the same time.

Loved because they cared enough about him to hug him. Hated because if they knew what he truly was, they wouldn't.

"Take care," James said.

"Of course. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." Remus narrowed his eyes between them.

"Pfft. As if we would ever do something like that," Sirius smiled.

Remus simply rolled his eyes and the others finally left. And then he was alone. He walked to his private bed and took out the book he kept in the drawer. It was a children's book, but when the pain was so awful, he couldn't think straight, it was nice that he could read at least something.

He flicked through the pages, not reading anything, but just letting time pass. Finally, a few minutes after curfew Madam Pomfrey arrived and they both walked towards the Whomping Willow. She needed to come with him to make sure all the protection spells were still working correctly.

But when they entered the room and she had double-checked, she didn't leave.

"Are you alright? Minerva mentioned your friends talked to her."

His eyes glued to the ground and he fiddled with his sleeve. "I'm fine, I guess."

"If you want to, you can talk to me or her about all of it." She seemed genuine.

"It's fine," he lied. Honestly, it would be nice to talk to someone, but he wasn't ready to let anyone know how he was truly feeling.

She left without another word. He quickly undressed and shivered as a cold wind came through one of the cracks. Not even the spells could keep the weather out. Remus locked his clothes in the wardrobe and hid under the covers.

Freezing and waiting.

.:lll:.

"Are you ready to do something stupid while Remus is gone?"

Sirius and Peter laughed, thinking it was a joke, but James' expression was serious.

"He literally just told us not to do anything stupid," Peter said. Though he was still slightly curious.

"I know, but we got to get the Polyjuice potion from Slughorn as quick as possible, so he'll forget about before Halloween!" His eyes shifted between them, hoping they would say yes.

"But we can't just do it without Remus," Peter said. He wouldn't like it if they just started doing fun things without him either.

"Yeah, but…" Sirius debated whose side to take. "Maybe Remus will be happy we did it -it's not like we're excluding him from the actual prank- and this way he won't risk getting detention.

"And if he's already behind, and he then gets more behind because of detention, then he'll just be upset," James added.

"I think he'll be glad it's all fixed so he can just focus on his homework," Sirius said, glancing at Peter.

"Don't you think it'll upset him that we have fun without him?"

James and Sirius paused. Maybe. But James spoke.

"If we're not doing this, then we'll just be doing something else fun without him. We already know he hates detention, and he'll still plan out the rest of the prank with us and see when it plays out."

"Okay then," Peter said.

.:lll:.

The best strategy would be to enter the Potions classroom while everyone was at supper. That was the only time they could make sure the whole school was at the same place, at the same time.

Peter was set to keep watch so that if Slughorn came, he could ask about their Potions homework, which would hopefully give James and Sirius enough time to get away. Just in case, they brought the invisibility cloak.

The door was locked, but luckily Sirius had mastered Alohomora ages ago. They quietly sneaked in under the cloak towards the storage room, now this one had a trickier lock, but at last, they managed to get in.

The whole room was shelf upon shelf upon shelf filled with all different kinds of potions ingredients, well, all the expensive and rare ones that Slughorn didn't want students to have unless it was under his supervision.

There was another door, and this one was even harder to unlock, but they managed in the end. James had no idea how long they had been using but felt like they should hurry. This room was like the other filled with shelves upon shelves, but this time there were various sized vials of potions instead of ingredients.

It appeared as if it had been a while since Slughorn had been organizing the room - perfect.

"This is amazing," Sirius exclaimed. "With all this mess, he will never suspect just a vial or two is missing."

"Agreed, but we better hurry up and find it," James quickly said and began scanning the shelves.

To their luck, there was a decent amount stored. Sirius took two vials while James found an empty one and began filling it with a little amount from the remaining ones.

Satisfied with what they had accomplished, James wrapped the cloak around them and remembered to lock the doors as they went out. Peter was still standing alone in the hallway.

It was almost too easy.

As if reading each other's thoughts, they simultaneously sneaked up on him. At the same time, they screamed at the top of their lungs causing Peter to shriek and jump at least a meter into the air.

Peter tried (and failed) to get his breathing under control. Same for James and Sirius, but for different reasons. They had a hard time keeping a straight face as they headed for the dorm to hide the potion under their bed.

The boys returned to the Great Hall to get supper and found Remus sitting alone by the table.

.:lll:.

Remus woke up feeling… okay. Of course, his whole body was in agony, he couldn't find the strength to open his eyes and he felt like passing out. He had, for a long time, suspected the transformations related to his emotions, when he had had a rough week, the transformation was harder.

It made sense. If he was happy, the wolf was happy. And he hadn't worried for the first time in so long. His friends would let the subject go to as why he was going home every month, they had found a reasonable explanation as to why he was tired and as far as he was concerned, they didn't think about the scars Sirius had seen.

He took a deep breath. Maybe his recovery would go quicker? Then he wouldn't miss any classes at all! And if he figured out how they could get the Polyjuice potion, he could use it to make the others do their homework before he told them.

Now that he knew James owned an invisibility cloak, they had to use it. James and Sirius would probably be the best ones to send in and get the potion while he and Peter could keep students and Slughorn away.

He took another deep breath and opened his eyes. His stomach was hurting, and he wanted some chocolate, but he couldn't call for Madam Pomfrey; someone might recognize his voice and question what he was doing there.

Luckily, she came in a short time later with a potion and chocolate. He stared longingly towards the chocolate, she noticed his gaze, then put the chocolate away and gave him the potion instead. Remus knew he had to drink the potion before getting the chocolate and he unwillingly obeyed.

But it was worth it as soon as he bit into the chocolate. All his struggles and all the pain disappeared for just a moment. He happily ate the rest and then fell asleep for a couple of hours, and only woke up when Madam Pomfrey came with dinner.

He slept for another hour before he woke up, feeling great. As great as one could after what he had experienced, but still somewhat great. Remus began reading his book, but his mind drifted off towards other things.

The evening came quickly, and Remus wanted nothing more than to hang out with his friends again. So, when Madam Pomfrey came in again, he couldn't help but ask.

She shook her head. "This one might not have been as bad as some of the others, but you still need more time to recover."

"I'll just eat with my friends in the Great Hall, and then go straight to bed. Promise!" He folded his hands.

She was about to shake her head again, but then saw his expression and sighed. "Okay then, but you will go straight to bed!"

"Of course."

Remus quickly put on his uniform and left the hospital wing before Madam Pomfrey could change her mind. He had to pause for a few moments because he got dizzy but was quickly on his way towards the Great Hall again.

That little bit of happiness at the aspect of seeing his friends again that had been building up inside him disappeared once he entered the Great Hall and couldn't spot his them. Everyone else from the school was there - but not them.

Remus pulled in his sleeve and found an empty seat far away from everybody else. It felt as if all eyes were on him as he filled his plate. He wanted to just walk out again, but that would seem strange. Remus tried to seem like he didn't bother as he ate, but it was hard to swallow as he just wanted to vomit.

But then James, Sirius and Peter entered the Great Hall and the happiness from earlier returned when they spotted him, and sat down next to him, asking how he was feeling, and how his mom was feeling.

"She's good. It seems as if things are getting better, I'll still have to visit her though."

"I'm glad." Sirius leaned in and gave him a side hug. Remus tried not to flinch. His whole body still hurt, and he had even taken careful steps from the Hospital Wing to the Great Hall, but it was fine. He was just glad to be with his friends again, even if it had been less than twenty-four hours.

Remus wanted to change the subject in case they might've noticed his expression. "I was thinking about how we could get the Potions from Slughorn-"

"Don't worry about it, we already got them," James hastily said. "We know you hate detention, so we just wanted to fix it before you came back."

"Oh… thanks," he tried to offer a little smile. They had just tried to be nice after all.

"We still need to plan the rest though, and we'll need your brilliant brain for that." Sirius offered him a blinding smile. "But all of that can wait. We got some time in our hands because you came back so early, and we can practice Accio if you want."

Remus smiled brightly as he quickly accepted the offer.

.:lll:.

Sirius had taken a little feather from the Owlery when they had been there to send letters. Remus had almost fainted from walking up all those stairs, and then also back the common room.

But he was fine, and Sirius had promised to teach him the Summoning Charm! He just had to eat some chocolate, and then it was fine!

They started with the basics while Remus began eating his chocolate despite Sirius' protests. James also listened and Peter had half given up because surely, he would never be able to do a fourth-year spell.

They had to say 'Accio' at least a hundred times before Sirius was satisfied with their pronunciation. And only then could they begin to practice the hand movement before finally beginning to do the actual spell.

James made a joke about how Sirius was even more strict than McGonagall and was set to do the movement twenty more times. Remus hadn't dared to say anything of the sort after that as he was afraid Sirius would take his chocolate away, and at the moment, it was the only thing keeping him awake.

He was determined to appear wide awake, otherwise, his friends would insist he went to bed. Though it all went down when he suppressed a yawn, unsuccessfully.

"Ah, sorry Remy. You must be exhausted; we should've done this another day." Sirius said

"No, I'm… fine." The statement would have been more convincing if he hadn't yawned in the middle of it.

"Rubbish," James quickly said. "Besides, I don't think I can handle any more Professor Black," he snickered."

Sirius hit his arm.

"Agreed," Peter said. "I'm not even in his class, and he got my nerves all up. Remus is a much better teacher."

"Well, if you don't want my help-"

"No! I want it! Keep me out of it!" Remus used his hand to block them out of the view and moved closer to Sirius.

"Ay! Everyone has a favourite teacher, and I just happen to prefer Professor Lupin." James held up his hands in a defencing pose.

"I think I prefer Remus over any Professor at Hogwarts," Peter said.

Sirius put his hands on his hips and turned to Remus. "I've got some competition, huh?"

Remus shook his head. "You got it all wrong-"

"There never was a competition because Remus was the clear winner all along," Peter interjected.

James and Sirius broke out laughing, but Remus just shook his head. Being a Professor or any other kind of teacher didn't sound so bad, but it would never work. No one from the magical community would want a werewolf to teach their kids, and besides, he would miss too many classes.

"Why not? You would be good at it, and it means you'll never have to leave Hogwarts." Sirius reasoned.

"Yeah, maybe. I guess it would be nice, but I don't know if it's the right thing for me."

"Whatever, you got plenty of time to figure it out." Peter smiled softly.

Remus gave a little nod. He hadn't thought much about the future. He had always just thought of Hogwarts and what it would be like, but never about what would come after. It was difficult for werewolves to get jobs.

"We got off track," James said. "We should get you to sleep, Remy."

"You're not my mom," he mumbled. Though he felt a sting of regret; he had promised Madam Pomfrey to head straight to bed after supper, but he was feeling good, so it didn't matter.

When his friends didn't answer right away, he looked up to see them looking regretful.

"What?"

"Nothing," Sirius quickly said and tried to hide it with a smile.

He turned towards Peter, but the other boy didn't show anything. His heart began beating faster; what was this about? "What?" he repeated.

"I guess it's just weird that you mention your mom so casually," James said slowly.

A wave of relief washed over him. It was just that. "I guess, but… it's… nice, I guess." Remus hoped they wouldn't question him further.

They all nodded, then suddenly Sirius reached over. Grabbed his chocolate and ran. In less than a second Remus was up and after him, but his head hurt, and he suddenly felt ill. He took a deep breath and continued up the stairs at a slower pace.

Sirius stood in the middle of the dorm, a wide smile on his face as he waved the chocolate in front of him in a taunting manner.

"Gimme!"

"Only if you go to bed!"

Remus narrowed his eyes. There wasn't much left, and he needed it after running up all those stairs! "I'll go to bed if you give me the chocolate."

Sirius smirked. "Nope. We go with my offer because I know you can't live without your chocolate."

They stood for a couple of minutes, just staring at each other. With each passing moment, Remus became more and more desperate while Sirius became more and more satisfied. Finally, he let out a long sigh. Sirius grinned, knowing he had won.

Remus grabbed his pyjamas and dragged himself to the bathroom. He didn't dare to sit down, knowing he wouldn't be able to get up again. Once he got the chocolate, everything would be fine.

James and Peter had also returned to the dorm when he got out, they had brought both his and Sirius' things. Sirius sent him a look and a quickly got under the covers. Only then did Sirius give him his chocolate back.

"You really are addicted," Peter grinned.

"You guys always make it out to be me who has a problem, when in reality, it's all of you who have a problem because you don't eat chocolate all the time." He ignored their laughs and ate the last piece.

"You got a little something-" James pointed at the side of his lip.

Remus easily used his finger to clean and then ate it. "I was just saving for later."

The others laughed, Remus let himself rest and it was then he realized how tired he was.

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 **When the marauders don't know how to finish the prank, it's because I don't know how to finish the prank, and folks, you're more than welcome to help me!**

 **Remember to review! It makes me happy! And follow my Instagram; halfravenhalfclaw for updates!**


	39. The theory

**Last time: the full moon approached, and it went great for Remus because he wasn't as stressed out as usual. Sirius promised to take notes for him when he isn't there and to help him with the few of the spells and potions he struggles with. James, Sirius and Peter 'borrowed' the polyjuice potion.**

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 **The theory**

James woke up with a smile. He would participate in his very first Quidditch training session that day! The first Quidditch match of the year would take place only a little more than a month, now, he wasn't going to be in the match, but he would do his best during training sessions, so he was ready if needed.

It would be the first match of the year, and they would play against the Slytherins! It was the match that decided who got the gloat the entire year! And the Slytherins won last year, therefore it was essential they did their best!

He jumped out of bed, eager to wake the others up along with Remus, but the other boy wasn't up yet. With a frown, he walked to the bed and slid the curtains aside, what he found, shocked him.

Remus was panting slightly; his head had become even paler than Sirius' and a bit green. And he had been wrong before; Remus was awake. His palms were on his forehead, and it seemed as if he was sweating.

"Remus, are you alright?" Stupid question, but what else should he ask?

Remus managed to shake his head lightly. "I'm gonna throw up," he whispered with a hoarse voice.

James didn't waste a second transfiguring a piece of parchment lying on the nightstand into a bucket, quickly handing it to Remus. He hadn't even had the bucket for a full second before he was throwing up into it.

James almost felt like vomiting himself, yet went to the bathroom to get some paper for Remus to clean his mouth with. Meanwhile, he had thrown up again, and both Sirius and Peter were out of their beds because of the noise.

"Are you, uh, finished?" James gestured towards the bucket after Remus had cleaned himself. He nodded. James returned to the bathroom to clean it. What had happened? Remus was fine yesterday.

Sirius was sitting on Remus' bed, holding a hand to his head. "We should get you to the hospital wing."

Remus didn't answer, instead of moving his gaze down. James quickly realized Remus would be missing classes if he was sick.

"Don't worry, Remus. Madam Pomfrey can fix you up in no time, and we'll take notes for you while you're gone."

"And we'll bring some chocolate," Peter hurriedly added.

They all shared a look when Remus didn't react to it. Was he also feeling that bad the day before? James cursed himself for not noticing.

They quickly got ready for school, meanwhile, Remus was still sitting with his head resting on his knees. He wasn't as pale as before, but still more than usual. It made his freckles stand out.

Sirius and James were about the same size (Sirius was slightly taller) so they volunteered to help Remus walk. It seemed as if he was going to pass out just by standing up. But even then, he wouldn't let them support him. They slowly reached the Hospital wing.

Peter carried their bags as he followed them. He hoped whatever Remus was suffering from wasn't too serious. It wasn't right to see him so tired and lifeless. Of course, his usual self wasn't too talkative, but it still made a major difference.

They finally arrived.

"Remus is ill," Peter stated when Madam Pomfrey came out from her office.

Her gaze found Remus as if she was trying to determine if he was faking it or not, which didn't make a lot of sense, because no one could fake how pale and tired he looked.

Finally, she nodded. "Mr Lupin you can wait over there, I'll bring some potions for you." She had gestured to a bed and then went back into her office.

Remus got over there on his own even though Sirius tried to help and immediately slit under the covers as he was still in his pyjamas.

They said their goodbyes, but he didn't even seem to register them. His eyes were distant and slightly red.

.:lll:.

Remus was stupid. He was unbelievably stupid. If he had just rested like Madam Pomfrey had told him to, or at least gone to bed as he had promised, he wouldn't have missed any classes at all! If he hadn't been so eager to see his friends again, he could've been eating breakfast and went to class with them.

Madam Pomfrey brought in a few potions she wanted him to drink, and also some chocolate, but he couldn't bring himself to eat it.

All he wanted was to go to class with his friends, have fun with them and plan pranks with them. Was that too much to ask for?

They came to visit him between and after classes, but he pretended to be asleep. His voice would without a doubt betray how upset he was, and the last thing he wanted was for them to worry about him.

.:lll:.

They had only had Remus back for a single afternoon, and he was already away again. It wasn't fair. He was the person out of them who hated missing classes the most, and for the first time, he came back from his mom before classes started, and then he just became sick and missed it anyways.

"I miss Remus. It's unfair he has to be sick again. I wish his mom wasn't sick so he didn't have to visit her all the time." Sirius said. He had barely eaten anything.

"He says she's getting better, so maybe she'll be healthy soon," Peter said, bringing a small smile to their lips.

"Then he won't have to visit her all the time," James added. "That would definitely make him less stressed all the time."

"We would have more time for pranks and stuff," Sirius said, his smile reached his eyes.

"That's how it should be," James stated. "Just the four of us making pranks all day."

"It will be like that soon," Peter said, his eyes shining brighter than when the House-elves had made sausages wrapped in bacon for breakfast. "She's getting better, it must be a good sign!"

James and Sirius quickly agreed just when the owls came in, one landed in front of James with a package and a letter from his parents. They congratulated him on joining the team.

He opened it and found various sweets, some of them with chocolate. Without hesitation, he decided to give all those to Remus. Chocolate always made Remus happy, and perhaps he could use it, seeing as he was ill and all.

"Your parents are the best." Sirius eyed the package with grief. He still wasn't on best terms with his own family.

"It's for sharing," James lied. "Remus will get the chocolate, and then we can split the rest."

This immediately brought a smile back to Sirius' lips. James mentally noted to ask his parents if they could send Sirius something. They seemed to grow fond of him doing the summer holidays.

They dragged themselves to their first class: History of Magic. Sirius hadn't forgotten he had promised Remus to take notes for him. He already knew basically everything Binns taught them, but he didn't mind if it would make Remus happier.

Sirius hoped it would lift his mood if he showed the notes he had taken for him, but sadly, the other boy was asleep when they visited him during dinner. Yet he saw that as a good sign.

Next was Transfiguration and then Astronomy which was moved to day-time because the sky wouldn't be clear that night anyways. Only then could they finally go back to visit him, but he was still sleeping.

"Reeeemus." Sirius poked him gently, receiving no reaction.

James put down the box he had gotten that morning. "Remus, if you wake up, we got some chocolate for you." This caused a slight movement.

Sirius and Peter grinned. "He's still a chocolate addict, even in his sleep."

"Anyway, James, when is Quidditch practise starting?" Sirius asked.

"In about an hour."

"Can we do our homework now? Just for about a half-hour. I don't want any distractions for when Remus wakes up so I can help him better."

"Can you help me too?" Peter asked, biting his lip. "I just figured seeing as you're already helping Remus."

"Of course."

"I can help too," James said. "Not with fourth-year spells, but if you're all doing your homework then I don't have anything to do anyways."

"That would be great." Peter relaxed. "For Remus too. It'll be nice to become better, also so I can help more out with pranks and stuff."

Sirius snorted, then a sheepish smile made its way onto his face. "Remus would say something about the fact that you want to become better so we can perform better pranks instead of becoming better for your future or whatever."

James and Peter laughed as well. It did sound like something he would say. Peter shot a glance at him. It would be so much better if he was awake to say it.

They pulled out their books and began on the small essay Professor Binns had given them and finished the last of the essay from Astronomy. Remus didn't wake up while they were there, but at last James had to leave for practice. Sirius and Peter followed.

This time Sirius and Peter had brought scarfs and a beanie, learning from their past mistakes. They parted with James who went for the changing rooms while they headed towards the stands.

"I think it's awesome he gets to be on the team even though he's only a Second-year." Peter brought the beanie further down his head.

"Me too. I'm certain he'll get to join fully next year, I mean; it's like he and the broom are one. He just needs more training and experience. Which he'll get this year."

Peter nodded. "What about you?"

He shook his head. "I don't want to play against my brother." His gaze found the ground.

"Why? I wouldn't use that excuse if I was good enough to play."

"Oh yeah, that's right, you've got a sister. How is she?" Sirius was delighted with the change of subject. The only time they had heard about her was at the Sorting where she had been put in Ravenclaw.

"Er, I don't know. We don't talk so much." He shrugged it off.

"Why not?" As ironic as it sounded, Sirius didn't like that Peter wasn't talking to her. A family should be close to one another.

"We're just not close, I suppose. She's a lot closer with Florence and Leena."

Sirius frowned. "How many sisters do you have?"

"Four… Taliyah and Leena are sisters, and they're my half-sisters. Florence is our step-sister. But Chili is a half-sister to all of us." Peter hoped they could change the subject, he didn't like talking about them all that much.

Sirius' eyes widened. "That's many. James and Remus don't even have one, but er… what are half- and stepsisters?" He let out a nervous laugh.

Peter suddenly remembered Sirius didn't like it when there was something he didn't know.

"Step-siblings are like when… My mom had me, and then she found a boyfriend who had a daughter. They moved in together, which then makes her my step-sister. Chili is my half-sister because my mom and her boyfriend had a child, so we share one parent. It's a bit of a mess."

"Mine's a mess too." Sirius smiled wryly. "So you don't have any brothers?"

"Nope, only sisters."

At that moment the Gryffindor Quidditch team entered the pitch. There was about ten people or so. Undoubtedly, James was the smallest out of all of them, but also the person who looked the proudest.

.:lll:.

James bounced in his steps as he neared the changing rooms. He would without a doubt give it his all to every training session so that if Sidney needed a Reserve, he would be picked instead of the others.

Once a bunch more people had arrived, someone spoke up.

"Great, everyone is here."

James felt butterflies in his stomach as Sidney called attention upon himself. He was so tall and confident. James wanted to be exactly like him when he became Quidditch Captain one day.

"Remember it's a privilege for y'all to be here, and if you don't do your best, I can easily replace you. Though I understand that everyone has a bad day from time to time. Our first match is in only five weeks, it's against Slytherin as always and y'all know what that means."

They nodded thoughtfully. Whoever won the first match of the year, had the right to gloat the rest of the year.

"I have collected a bunch of different training exercise over the summer, and I'll be going through them with you separately. Now, grab those boxes and let's head out."

James held his broom tightly. Some of the older students took care of the boxes. Sidney directed the people with the boxes in different directions, and once everyone was gathered again, he told them where to wait.

"Potter, can I have a word?"

"Of course." He felt slightly nervous but shrugged it off. He hadn't done anything wrong.

"Do you lean more towards Seeker or Chaser? I just need to know." Sidney glanced down in some papers.

"Uh, Chaser I think." James had thought long about it, and even though being a Seeker would be cool because everyone would love you when you caught the Snitch, he just liked Chaser more. There were more adrenaline and much more action.

"Great. I'll put you there…" He wrote something on the parchment. "But is it okay if you train a bit for Seeker too? I just think you're the best replacement we have if something happens to McKinnon."

"Of course," James beamed. He was the best option! Or, next best.

"Marvellous." Sidney finally looked up and smiled at James. "Some of the time we will all do exercises together, but I also want everyone to have individual ones. If you follow me, I'll explain the Seeker-exercises to you and McKinnon, and then you can join the rest of the Chasers."

James almost had to run to keep up with Sidney as he practically raced towards Julie McKinnon; Marlene McKinnon from his class' big sister.

He duplicated a piece of parchment then gave James and McKinnon one each. Sidney explained each exercise that was shown on the paper with simple drawings, before moving towards their Keeper; Eileen Hill.

James went towards where the other Chasers were standing so he could receive similar information as what he had just heard.

Then training finally began.

.:lll:.

James' concern grew when Remus was still sick the next day. He had expected they would have to force him to stay in the bed, but that didn't seem to be a problem at all. At least now he was awake to talk with them.

"Mornin Remus," Sirius greeted cheerfully when he saw Remus was awake rather than sleeping.

Remus stopped picking at the sausages at his plate, a smile formed on his lips. "Hi."

"How are you feeling?" Peter asked.

"Better." He nodded to avoid eye-contact. "How was Quidditch practise yesterday?"

James noticed how quickly Remus changed the subject away from his health, and decided to mentally note it. The other boy usually wasn't much for talking about himself, but he decided to let it slide for the time being, after all, he had a chance to talk about Quidditch!

"It was amazing! I'm going to be training for both Seeker and Chaser because Sidney thinks I'll be the best Seeker replacement if anything happens to McKinnon!"

"Marlene?" Remus frowned.

"Her big sister," Sirius said.

"Anyway, of course, I still prefer being Chaser, but if training to be Seeker will raise my chances of joining a match, then let that be it! We've got another training tomorrow. It's Sidney's last year here, so he wanna make sure we win!"

"Does that mean we won't have as much time for pranks?" Sirius seemed horrified with the realization.

"Of course not!" James quickly said, and with an equal horrified expression.

Peter and Remus shared a look before laughing at their friends.

"Speaking of pranks, I think I have an idea for the Halloween one." Immediately, Remus had the attention of all three of them. It still surprised Remus how they reacted if anyone even just mentioned the word. "If the house-elves wanna help that is."

"I'll charm them," Sirius said without even pausing. "What's your idea?"

"We could bake some delicious looking muffins and put the potion into it, then get the house-elves to serve them. And they will have to look great so everyone will take them first, and hopefully eat it at the same time."

"Remus, you're amazing!" Peter exclaimed.

James nodded. "Agreed, but we gotta head to breakfast, and then class. By the way Remus, I'll visit while the others have flying class."

"I still can't believe you don't have to go to class just because you're on the team." Sirius pouted.

"Well, I get the needed flying lessons from Quidditch training, besides, someone has to keep Remus company."

James hastily explained that the box was filled to the brim with sweets from his parents for all of them to share and that he could eat all the chocolate as his heart desired while they were gone.

They headed off to the dungeons for their first class: Potions. Sirius had promised to take notes for Remus, and also ask Slughorn if he could take some ingredients for them to make the potion later.

.:lll:.

Remus and James had a fun time eating sweets and playing Exploding Snap. James was delighted to know that Remus was feeling a lot better and could most likely go back to classes the next day.

Though he had to leave because Professor Eckbird would take points from Gryffindor if he was late for Defence Against the Dark Arts.

James arrived when Eckbird was still teaching some seventh-year students, he was about to walk away again, but he heard a sentence that caught his attention.

"What can you tell me about blood curses?" It was the Professor's easily recognizable dark voice.

James carefully moved closer to the door to hear the response.

"It's a condition that exists within families and can pop up after multiple generations.".

 _Exists within families._

But…

James frowned, surely it couldn't be, but maybe. No. He would have to ask Sirius and Peter.

Surely Remus didn't have a blood curse.

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	40. The suspicion

**DISCLAIMER the Wizarding World of Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.**

 **Last time: Remus was ill, but quickly got better. James was at his first Quidditch training session. The first match is in less than a month, and he got a package from his parents, that he chose to share with his friends. He fears Remus might have a blood curse.**

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 **The suspicion**

 _"It's a condition that exists within families and can pop up after multiple generations."._

 _Exists within families._

 _But…_

 _James frowned, surely it couldn't be, but maybe. No. He would have to ask Sirius and Peter._

 _Surely Remus didn't have a blood curse._

.:lll:.

His mind began racing with the possibilities. Pieces clicked into place, but he needed more evidence. James tried to overhear some more, but the class ended, and the students left. He had about a couple of minutes before the rest of the Gryffindors from his class showed up.

"Professor Eckbird?"

The Professor glanced up and grunted slightly.

"I overheard what one of the girls said about blood curses, but what kind of blood curses are there?" He bit his lip, hoping his professor would answer the question. He wasn't always in the best mood.

"A blood curse is also called a Blood Malediction. One type of blood curse is a Maledictus which means you'll one time or another turn into a beast forever. But there are also less extreme blood curses that sound like a normal illness." Eckbird waved his wand to clean the blackboard.

"Can you die from them?" James held his breath.

"Easily."

He suddenly didn't feel so good. What if Remus' mother had been cursed, and it had affected Remus too? It seemed like it was a dangerous illness she had, and that's why he visited her. But maybe Remus had it too. The thought made his stomach flop.

.:lll:.

"What's up? You've been strangely quiet."

Sirius noticed it from the moment he stepped into the classroom; something was up with James. He wasn't smiling or making fun of Eckbird's dark voice during class. For once since the very first time they met; James looked thoughtful.

He looked over his shoulders. "We should go somewhere quiet." Sirius and Peter shared a look. They had suspected something was wrong, but this confirmed it. James lead them to the corridor behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy.

"What's going on?" Peter rubbed his hands nervously.

"I think Remus has a blood curse."

Both Peter and Sirius frowned, but then Sirius' lit up in realization. Peter glanced between his two friends who stared at each other like they knew something he didn't.

"What? What's a blood curse?" By the look of their face -and by the name- it didn't sound like something too good. And it involved Remus.

"It's when a curse has been cast on earlier family members, and it runs in the family - or the blood. Which means if Remus' mom has a blood curse, Remus could have it too." Sirius paled.

"Think about it! He's always tired and worn before and after he visits her. Perhaps it makes her ill more often than other people, and now Remus does too!" James was glad they believed his theory, but they would still have to research it further once they had the time.

Peter was suddenly hit with realization. "Remus once told me he didn't think he would ever come to Hogwarts, I bet it's because of his health!"

"And earlier when I asked how he was doing; he changed the subject quicker than a Golden Snitch fly! He probably knows he has it, and did you see the way Madam Pomfrey looked at him yesterday when we helped him get to the Hospital Wing?"

"I did." Sirius nodded; his eyes big with worry. "He has trouble sleeping sometimes. Once we went to the Hospital Wing to get Sleeping Draught, and Madam Pomfrey just gave it to us without further questions. But why hasn't he said anything?" Were they not good enough friends for Remus? Didn't he feel like he could tell them everything?

"I bet it's difficult for him," Peter said.

"But how do we help him?" Sirius instinctively turned to James, and so did Peter.

He hesitated a moment. "We take up the old tactic of assuring him we're there for him again, and we'll research what blood curse it could be that he has, so we know how to help him. Maybe we can even ask Madam Pomfrey."

"But we're with him all the time except when he visits his mom," Peter said.

"Then…" James paused, trying to come up with a solution. "We'll make excuses. Sometimes me and Sirius will go out. Sometimes it's you and Sirius, and then sometimes it's you and me. That way one of us is always with him."

"I like that." Sirius nodded slightly. He didn't like the thought of them avoiding Remus, but if one of them was always with him, it was fine.

.:lll:.

"Hey, Remy Lemy Jen." Sirius smiled from ear to ear when he saw his friends sitting on the hospital bed, reading notes and munched at a chocolate bar.

"What." It wasn't a question, yet Remus smiled as well. He was well-rested and ready for classes the next day. Sirius plunged next to him and grabbed a Sugar Quill from the package. "You shouldn't eat those, they're bad for their health." Remus gestured to the sweets.

"Ha, ha." Sirius rolled his eyes. "Point taken. I'll stop bothering you with that chocolate addiction of yours."

"Where's James and Peter?"

"We asked Slughorn for the ingredients for the Potion we brewed today, so they're practising it right now. I thought -if you feel good- we could continue working on Accio, so you get ahead of James."

"That'd be great." Remus put down the parchment he was reading with the rest on the nightstand but kept the chocolate in his hand as he took his wand. "Can I try the actual spell now?"

Sirius just laughed and shook his head. "You ain't ready for that yet, kiddo."

"Seriously? Remy Lemy Jen and kiddo? What's up with you today?" Remus raised an eyebrow and smiled wryly.

"Firstly; yes, seriously..." Remus rolled his eyes. "Secondly; I'm just trying out some new nicknames. Do you like them?" Sirius desperately hoped Remus didn't figure out something odd was going on.

"I think you should just stick with Remy. I like that one."

"Okay then, Remy. Have you in any way at all been looking at the spell since our last class?"

"No, Siri, I've been too busy vomiting."

Sirius grinned, but then wrinkled his nose. He put his hand on Remus' knee. "I hope it wasn't too bad."

"Nah it was fine. My headache is gone, and the food stays in my stomach. Yesterday morning was the worst, but I'm feeling a lot better now." Remus had been staring at Sirius' hand, but now moved his gaze.

"I'm glad. Have the notes helped?"

"A lot! Thanks again, but can we go back to Accio now?"

"Course." Sirius moved his hand, and Remus found that he wanted it back, but then shook his head. Sirius' constant need for touching had come off on him too.

After practising the pronunciation and hand-movement for a couple of hours, and both at the same time, James and Peter finally came back. Sirius had promised Remus he could try the spell on an object in their next lesson.

As James sat down, he and Sirius shared a look that Remus missed because Madam Pomfrey came in with supper for him, sadly that also meant the others had to leave.

.:lll:.

"I feel kind of bad for avoiding Remus," Peter admitted. They had just sat down in the library after picking up some books that could help them.

"Me too… yet I think it's okay. It's not as if we're all leaving him. One of us will always be with him so he won't be alone, besides we're doing this to help him." James partly wanted to convince himself.

"I guess you're right about that." Peter opened the first book in the pile. "What exactly are we looking for?"

James took a book as well. "Anything that is even mildly related to blood curses, or just illnesses in general. Symptoms that Remus experience. Exhaustion, dizziness, nausea."

The search continued a couple of hours, and with no result at all. James felt the anger boil in him, but he tried not to let it show. Why couldn't they find anything? It was frustrating and he just wanted to kick something, yet he walked calmly to the Hospital Wing with Peter.

At least Remus was happy judging by the smile on his lips.

.:lll:.

"Did you find anything? At all?"

Sirius asked his question only a couple of seconds after leaving the Hospital Wing. He had enjoyed spending time with Remus, it had been fun. Besides, it lifted his mood to see Remus smiling, and eating chocolate again. But he also wanted to look for answers.

"No," Peter said.

Sirius pouted.

"But we'll find something. We can look again after dinner," James quickly said. They entered the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table. As usual, the Pureblood-Slytherins sent Sirius dirty looks.

"But Remus comes out of the Hospital Wing after dinner."

James paused to think in the middle of filling his plate with potatoes. Sirius and Peter stared at him with an expectant look in their eyes. "I'll help him with the Wideye Potion we made earlier today, and I can say you two are… researching for an essay."

Sirius smiled. "That sounds perfect."

.:lll:.

Remus swung his legs back and forth as he sat on a bed in the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey had promised he was fine to go. He had finished supper and put on some proper clothes instead of the pyjamas. Now he was just waiting for the others to arrive, hoping they could all hang out together.

It had been fun hanging out with Sirius, but the reason he had become sick in the first place was that he missed all of them. Well, he left the Hospital Wing earlier than he should have. And didn't go to bed right after supper as he had promised, hence he became ill.

Now they could all hopefully do something together.

But when the doors opened, it was only James who stepped inside. Remus' gaze lingered on the door, half-expecting Sirius and Peter to come through as well. But they didn't.

"Where are the others?"

"They're in the library to research for an essay. So, I thought we could make the Wideye Potion. I helped Peter earlier and it went great. I think I'm a better teacher than I get credit for." James smiled smugly.

Remus shrugged. "I guess we can do that. I kinda hoped we could all hang out now that I'm finally feeling better."

"We'll do that tomorrow, now, shouldn't we concentrate on the potion now, so we can do something else tomorrow?" James felt a sting in his stomach, though he ignored it. They weren't avoiding Remus. They were helping him.

Remus simply nodded, still feeling kind of bummed. They walked to the dormitory. James told about a cake recipe his mom had used a million times before. It both looked, smelled and tasted delicious. He thought it would be a great cake for the prank as he had also baked it a few times with his mom.

Remus agreed because James said there was chocolate on top.

"We just need to figure out how the potion will go inside them," James just as they had entered the dorm. He found a cauldron and all the ingredients they needed.

"Maybe we can ask the House-Elves how they put the chocolate inside the brownies." Just the thought of the chocolate-filled brownies made Remus' mouth water. Perhaps they could get some more of those when they'd visit them?

"That's a great idea." James loved when a plan for a prank took form. "Now, firstly we need to add six snake fangs into the mortar. Crush them gently."

It took three attempts before James was happy with the way he crushed snake fangs. Honestly. Though it was still nice. Potions are super complicated, and even the smallest things make the biggest difference. Sirius and James were lucky as they had a talent for it, unlike Peter and Remus who were better at exploding it.

Finally, they just needed to let it brew until the next day. Remus wanted to find Sirius and Peter, but James insisted they played Wizards Chess instead. Remus, who was still a little tired, agreed. Partly because James still had leftover chocolate from the package he had received from his parents.

They changed into their pyjamas' and set up camp in James' bed with pillows and duvets.

"Are you nervous for the first Quidditch match against Slytherin?" Remus set up his pieces on the board. His parents had given them to him to try and cheer him up because he had been upset about moving the previous winter.

James shrugged. "I'm probably not even going to play. No one wants to miss the first match of the year, though I'll be ready if I'm needed."

"I still don't get how you can just fly around like that. It looks mental."

"I don't get how you can eat that much chocolate, and still be the skinniest out of all of us." James laughed as Remus was just about to take another bite of the chocolate. The latter put it away, but only a few moments later took it back.

Sirius and Peter came back a couple of minutes before curfew. They both jumped onto the bed sending the chess pieces flying everywhere. It quickly escalated into a fight between James and Sirius where the former won.

"How'd the potion making go?" Sirius asked, panting slightly while also smiling at Remus.

"It was fine. Apparently, I don't know how to crush snake fangs properly, but I got the hang of it after about a hundred attempts."

James rolled his eyes. "We didn't do it a hundred times, but the way it's crushed is important."

Sirius nodded solemnly.

.:lll:.

It continued like that for a couple more weeks. Neither of them found anything that could be related to a possible illness that Remus could have. Remus, on the other hand, was getting quite suspicious as to why two of them always seemed to be busy. And they had also begun assuring him they would always be there for him again.

He was sitting in the common room with all of them -for once- reading a non-school book. The help both Sirius and James provided was great, plus the notes they had taken. He was getting better at potions already, even Slughorn had pointed that out.

Though the enjoyment ended when Sirius and James insisted, they had detention. Remus couldn't recall a time when that had happened, but apparently, they had been up to no good while he and Peter were alone a few nights ago.

"Why is everyone busy all the time?"

"Huh?" Peter looked up from the essay he was working on. Homework usually took longer for the boy because his concentration wasn't the best. Plus, he couldn't resist when someone wanted to play Wizards Chess. Though he seemed to be much slower than usual considering he spend so much time doing it with either James or Sirius.

"Us. It's been so long since we've all just hung out together. Even when both you and I need help with the same potion, we aren't together. But why?"

"Maybe it's just easier."

Remus shrugged and glanced down. The crippling self-doubt took over. This wasn't because of him, was it? There was no way it could be. For that, none of them would want to hang out. But there was always one of them with him.

"We'll need to bake that cake soon. And get a few strands hair from the smallest first year we can find. We'll all be together then. I bet it's gonna be fun." Peter bit his lip nervously. They could take one day off.

Remus smiled. "Yeah."

"Sometimes it feels like we get into more trouble because of them."

"That's because we _do_ get into more trouble because of them." Remus smiled.

Peter grinned. Being friends and hanging out with Remus had been amazing the previous year, yet it was better with James and Sirius there too. Remus had become a lot more open, and Peter could undoubtedly feel the difference.

"Though I think it's gonna be worth it. Their idea for pranks is always so wild."

"But the slide one was funny," Remus pointed out. "I can't wait till we're better sorceress so we can try that one again."

"Me neither," Peter said.

.:lll:.

Peter was the last person to sneak out of the dorm. James had pulled him aside quickly to tell him they needed to meet up in the common room at midnight. James would go first, Sirius second and Peter last so they wouldn't make too much noise.

"What's up? Did you find anything?" Peter couldn't help but be hopeful for a moment.

James and Sirius both shook their head. "We're going into the Restricted Section in the library," James said.

"What?"

"The Restricted Section," Sirius said, tapping his foot impatiently on the floor. "We're going there. Now. You need a note from a teacher, but we'll just steal it with James' cloak." He got up from the couch. "Come on."

James followed. A baffled Peter was close behind. They scooted under the cloak and began the journey to the library. Because of the dark, prefects and Filch, it took them more than thirty minutes to get to there. They needed not to get caught. What would Remus think if they sneaked around without him?

Once inside, they took off the cloak. Sirius and James searched the shelves while Peter kept watch. A simple Lumos charm did wonders. After a ten-minute search, James spoke.

"Hey, guys I think I found something." He took out the book. Opened it. And immediately dropped it as it started screaming.

In the same second Sirius pulled out his wand and cast a silencing charm on it while James took the cloak and wrapped it around them. They waited twenty minutes in absolute silence, but no one came.

"What do we do?" Peter whispered.

"We go to the room behind Gregory the Smarmy and read it, though I think we got to act quick because that spell can wear off any time now," Sirius said.

James clutched the book all the way, hoping that if the spell wore off, it wouldn't start screaming if it didn't open. Who charmed books to scream when a person opened them? It was a bit dramatic according to him. They hid behind the statue and walked down the corridor to get out of hearing earshot.

"It's called _to Recognize a Blood Malediction_." James held up the book.

"Brilliant," Sirius said, though he seemed at unease. "Open it."

James carefully opened the book, though it didn't start screaming again.

"Maybe the spell only works in the library. I don't think any students would be able to sneak it past Madam Pinch during the daytime anyway."

James nodded. They sat down with the book between them. Pouring over it. There had to be a sign in that book, that matched the ones Remus had. There was complete silence except for when they turned the pages.

"Oh." James made the first sound in eight minutes.

"What?" Peter looked up at him.

"How often is Remus away?"

Sirius and Peter glanced at each other. "Err, once every month, I think?" Peter said.

"Which dates?"

"Uhm. The only one this year was the day of the try-outs, so… 23rd September." Sirius couldn't see where James was going with it, and he hated to be confused. He tried to think hard. Why were the dates important?

"What about last year?"

"I don't know!" Sirius exclaimed.

James paused a little moment. "When was the last full moon?"

"The day of the- oh." Suddenly pieces began to appear. Remus' monthly disappearances. The moon. Did all of them add up? How many times had he seen the full moon when Remus was away?

"What? When?" Peter desperately wanted to know what was up as well.

"The last full moon was the day of the try-outs. His visits are always on the nights of the full moon." Sirius paled.

"What does that mean?" Peter whispered carefully.

James and Sirius shared a look. Despite the question, Peter seemed to know what was going on, but he needed them to confirm it. It couldn't be what he thought. James finally took a deep breath and answered.

"Remus' mom is a werewolf."

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 **I would love to see the face of everyone as you read the last line XD**

 **I planned to have a chapter end with that sentence from the start, and I've been so excited to share it and see your reactions.**

 **They're close to figuring out the secret.**

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	41. The truth

**DISCLAIMER I don't own the wizarding world of Harry Potter**

 **Last time: James suspects Remus has a blood curse because he's ill the same times as his mom. He shared this information with Sirius and Peter, and together they try to figure out which one. Because Remus always disappears during full moons, they realize that Remus' mom is a werewolf.**

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 **The truth**

"But she's a muggle. Remus told me himself. Muggles can't be werewolves," Peter said. He couldn't quite wrap his head around what James and Sirius were getting at. It made sense, yet it was hard to believe.

"Maybe it was a cover," James said. "Do any of you know her name? Have you ever actually seen her?" Before saying the next thing, he turned to Sirius. "Can you see on someone if they're a werewolf?"

But the other boy just shrugged. "My parents always just used to say they were monsters, so I imagined… monsters I guess." He frowned. "If they look different, is that why we haven't seen her?"

Peter spoke before James had a chance to answer. "Even so, that doesn't explain why Remus is ill… could he be a werewolf too?"

"Nah, werewolves aren't allowed at Hogwarts," Sirius said. "Maybe if she got bitten, and then had him, some of the wolf-genes was transferred, but not enough to make him one. The same way blood curses work."

"We'll have to look into that." James closed to book and was ready to begin searching again.

"More research?" Peter groaned. "It's too stressful both doing that, doing homework and keeping all of it a secret from Remus. He's getting suspicious. And I hate lying to him."

"We're doing this _for_ him-"

"But does he need it?" Peter cut Sirius off. "I know how you feel, and I want to help him too, but what can we do? We figured it out. We know his mom is a werewolf. And either he's sick because he's worried or some of the wolf-genes were transferred. Either way, more research won't help."

"But-"

"He's right, Sirius," James said calmly. He placed his hand on his shoulder. "We'll still do some, but we haven't been hanging out with him too much. There's no haste. I'll look into the book about werewolves Professor Eckbird had us buy for this year. Maybe it says something useful."

Sirius looked between them, then finally sighed out of defeat. "Okay then."

"And we'll keep letting him know we're here for him," Peter added.

.:lll:.

Remus lay awake in bed. He had been awake for about an hour, and there were only five minutes till he needed to get ready. He desperately hoped Peter was right, and they would all hang out together again soon.

Yet he couldn't help but wonder _why_ two of them always seemed to be busy. And why it was always in the same pattern. First, he and Sirius would hang out. Usually, they would work on spells or just talk. Then James would help him with Potions, and lastly, he helped Peter with spells he had already practised with either James or Sirius.

It had been like that for a couple of weeks, but he couldn't think of a reason why. It couldn't be because they didn't want to be friends with him. But he couldn't think of other reasons why they would be acting weird.

He just hoped it would be over soon.

Finally, the alarm clock ripped him apart from his thoughts, and after a few tries, he got out of the bed. But James wasn't up. He frowned. Normally, James would be up the second the alarm began. Though a few seconds later he emerged.

His hair was messier than usual, he stretched his arms while letting out a long yawn.

"M' sorry. I couldn't fall asleep last night," James said, already on his way towards Sirius to get the other boy out of bed.

Peter was difficult to get out of bed, and Sirius was the same. It seemed unlikely that all of them had trouble sleeping the previous night as they claimed. Remus tried to wash the bad feeling away. They were friends. They kept reminding him repeatedly that they were there for him.

They wouldn't do anything without him, right?

With a bad feeling in his gut, Remus followed his friends to breakfast. It was clear that they tried to hold back any yawns, but he didn't point this out. Maybe there were telling the truth. Maybe they did have trouble sleeping the previous night.

James glanced around the Great Hall, but finally, his gaze settled on his friends and a smirk decorated his lips.

"Do any of you know how to cut hair?"

As one, the rest of them raised their eyebrow at James. Out of all the things he could've asked, that one had to be the weirdest.

James began explaining. "There's a Hufflepuff girl over there. Her hair is black and practically reaches the ground. Don't you think she would like a haircut? And while we're at it we should probably get rid of the hair for her." James smiled when Sirius' eyes shone. He saw where James was going.

Sirius turned to Remus. "Is that okay? We'll just need to cut the ends, and she's small so there won't be any ripped uniforms."

Remus hesitated as three pairs of eyes stared expectantly at him. "Err, you don't need my permission."

"No, but you were the one who pointed out that the uniforms would rip if we chose a big person. So, you have to decide," Peter said.

Remus glanced back at the girl. She was certainly smaller than average. He doubted it would cause any problems. And he was grateful they took his suggestion seriously. He had felt bad for bursting the bubble when he had pointed it out.

"I guess she's fine."

Immediately James and Sirius lit up. The former replied. "Great. I'll use my charms to convince her."

This earned a snort from Sirius. They hit each other playfully a couple of times. Then the owls interrupted them. The Potter's family owl flew towards them with a package along with another owl. The second owl landed in front of Remus, but the first owl landed in front of Sirius.

Sirius frowned. Surely it was a mistake, but it didn't even seem to acknowledge James. Hesitantly, he took the package and served a sausage to the owl. It tooted happily and flew away, just after the owl that had delivered a letter to Remus.

"What is it?" James asked.

Sirius simply shrugged and opened the letter on top.

 _Dear Sirius._

 _Fleamont and I haven't had any letters from the school, so we imagine you two haven't gotten into trouble, which is always great. Can I assume you're the one keeping him out of trouble?_

 _I hope you're having a good time. Hogwarts is over before you realize it, so be sure to enjoy the time to the fullest._

 _I have enclosed a variety of different sweets as I wasn't sure what you like the best._

 _You're welcome to write back to me at any time. And Fleamont as well._

 _Yours_

 _Euphemia_

He grinned, before carefully placing the letter in his bag. It would be a shame if anything happened to it. Sirius then proceed to open the package. It was much like the one James had received a few weeks back, but he quickly noted that there was a delicious smelling, freshly baked cake with chocolate on top.

"A package to me from your mom," he said.

James took a glance. "Hey, Remus, this is the cake I told you about."

"Huh?" Remus glanced up from his letter, took a deep breath and almost began to dribble. "Merlin it smells amazing!"

He grinned, then explained to Sirius and Peter. "Remus and I thought this would be the perfect cake for Halloween, hopefully, it'll be the first people will fill on their plates. We also thought of asking the House-Elves how they put chocolate into the brownies he and I got a while ago."

"Sounds great. Who's that from?" Sirius gestured to the letter Remus was still holding.

"My parents. They just want to know how I'm doing. And they send me a chocolate bar."

The others laughed softly, unsurprised.

"Can we go? I want to return this to the dorm before class starts." Sirius clapped the package gently. He almost couldn't contain the smile on his lips. He couldn't believe he had received a package!

Neither of the four boys noticed the slightly gloomy atmosphere as they left.

.:lll:.

Surprisingly enough, James' 'charms' worked. They convinced the girl from Hufflepuff to let them cut her hair, and now they had more than enough for the prank. Remus had done most of the work, he managed to cut her hair in an almost straight line.

They had wanted to bake the cake, but James had Quidditch practise, and that had priority! Peter wanted to watch the session - they were supposed to have a practice game. Though Remus wanted to stay inside and read, hence Sirius decided to stay indoors as well.

Sirius laid sprawled across Remus bed, while the latter read the book he had begun. It was slightly boring, but he had wanted to get Remus alone. After twenty minutes he finally spoke.

"Remy?"

Remus didn't even flinch, he simply turned the page in the book.

"Reeeeeeemy."

This time Sirius knew Remus ignored him on purpose as his eyes moved slightly. He reached out and poked Remus' foot gently. Still receiving no response, he proceeds to poke just a little harder. At last, he slipped his hand under Remus' foot causing the other boy to jump slightly, and finally put the book away.

"What?"

"Come lay down." Sirius patted the spot next to him.

With a sigh, Remus obeyed. He copied Sirius' position by laying on his back but turning his head to the other boy. Remus raised an eyebrow, thinking Sirius would begin to speak first.

"Do you keep any secrets from us?" Sirius had meant to be more tactful, but he spoke before he could stop himself.

Remus shrugged. "I don't think so. I don't think they're secrets, but likely just things I haven't told because you haven't asked."

Sirius nodded slowly, hesitating before asking the next question. "Are your parents ever like… harsh towards you? Like… like they slap you and stuff like that."

"No… I feel like you've asked me something like this already." Remus laughed nervously, hoping they could change the subject. Hadn't they given up on the theory that he was abused?

Sirius ignored the last statement. "I know we all say this a lot, but if you ever need anything. You can come to us." Remus nodded. The constant assuring had him worried. "I truly mean it, Remus-" Sirius turned the lay on his side. "You _can_ come to is with _anything_. We'll be there for you no matter what."

"Why do you keep saying that?"

"What?"

Remus glanced at the ceiling. "Why do all of you keep assuring me that you'll be there for me no matter what? Don't take this the wrong way, because it's nice, but why? Why isn't it you, or Peter, or James who get assured all the time? Why me?" He moved his gaze back.

Sirius took a moment to answer. "We're worried about your mom."

"And?"

"Maybe it's not specifically your mom we're worried about, but rather you, and what happens if she doesn't get better." Sirius bit his lip, he wasn't sure what to say next, and Remus question baffled him.

"Have you been talking about me behind my back?"

"I suppose, but-"

Remus cut him off by sitting up abruptly. "My mom is none of your concern. I'm fine, and she's fine. Stop worrying about me." The last sentence was more of a plead than a request.

Sirius slowly sat up as well but didn't put his arm around Remus as he wanted. "We're friends. And friends worry about each other. James, Peter and I didn't mean to talk about you behind your back, but we just want you to know you have us if something happens to her."

"But stop!" Remus hadn't meant to sound harsh. "You keep bringing her up, but I don't want to think about it! I wanna forget it and live a normal life but you keep reminding me! You keep reminding me I have things to worry about and that I need help, but I just- I just…" Hiding his face behind his hands, he let out a shaky breath, shaking slightly.

Sirius forced himself to pause and think about what he should do next. "Do you want to hug?"

Remus shook his head gently, therefore Sirius sat still. He had to keep reminding himself not to hug Remus, but it was hard when his friend was upset. Though he managed. Remus would only become more upset if Sirius hugged after asking him not to.

After a while, Remus seemed calmer and he removed his hands, then Sirius spoke. "We'll stop asking, but only if you promise to come with anything that's upsetting you."

"I promise." He smiled wryly at Sirius. A few minutes passed in silence until Remus spoke again. "I could use that hug now."

With a grin, Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus and felt the other boy do the same.

.:lll:.

 _Dear Euphemia._

 _Thank you so much for the package! That cake of yours with chocolate on top was delicious! The other boys thought so too._

 _Don't be mistaken, Remus is the one keeping us out of trouble. Some of the time at least. He was the tiny boy who visited last summer._

 _Thanks again for the package. I'll write to you as often as I can if that's okay._

 _Regards_

 _Sirius._

.:lll:.

Remus and Peter had been banned from touching the batter. Turns out that baking and creating potions weren't that different from each other. Turns out Peter and Remus were horrible at both.

"Remus!" James had barely turned around for a second, only to find Remus with his finger in the chocolate. Remus hastily took as much as he could and slipped it into his mouth. James snatched the bowl away. "Honestly. We won't have enough for the cake if you keep doing that!"

"So?" Sirius said. "This isn't the cake we're going to use. It's just for practice. And now we know we have to feed him a lot of chocolate before baking the cake."

"Hey!" Remus hit Sirius' arm gently.

"And during," Peter added causing the others to laugh and Remus to hit him as well.

James spoke once he had finished laughing. "Why are you complaining? If we do this, it means you'll get lots of chocolate."

Remus' eyes lit up, but he hastily narrowed them. "Then you also have to promise!"

Peter held up his left hand and set the other hand on his chest. Sirius and James instantly copied him. Peter began speaking.

"We swear to give you chocolate before and during the cake baking of our Halloween Prank."

Remus nodded approvingly, at that moment, a House Elf came running.

"Have you finished baking, sirs? Do you want me to clean up?" He spoke as if there was nothing in the world, he rather would than clean up their mess.

"No thanks," James said. "But if you bring over some sweets with chocolate, that would be great."

"Of course, sir."

Barely a half-minute had passed before three different House Elves stood in front of them with three separate plates of sweets. Remus stared hungrily at each one before picking a piece.

"Does your parents like chocolate too?" Three pairs of eyes landed on James, who had meant to ask the question more naturally. Werewolves like chocolate. And if Remus' mom liked chocolate, then that might explain why Remus liked it so much and would confirm their theory.

Remus shrugged. "I don't think I got it from them if that's what you mean. They like it, obviously, but not as much as me."

"Stupid question, James. It's not possible for anyone to like chocolate as much as Remus does," Peter said.

Remus had wanted to protest, but he had just taken a bite of the chocolate muffin, hence was unable to speak, causing the others to break into laughter.

.:lll:.

Study-Sundays were the most boring day of the week, but otherwise, Remus wouldn't do pranks. And it was probably for the best anyway. The day was worse than usual because Remus would visit his mom later. He was currently getting a book from the library.

Peter had wanted to go with him, to get a little break, but Sirius had sent him a look. It was one of those 'I need to tell something' that Peter thought they wouldn't be doing any longer.

"I don't want Remus to visit his mom." His voice didn't offer any discussion, yet James spoke.

"He isn't abused, Sirius… he's just visiting his mom. There's nothing odd about that." He put down his book. Why wouldn't Sirius let the subject go?

"Then how did he get those scars?"

A deafening silence filled the room. James opened his mouth as if he would speak, but no sound came. He hadn't thought about the scars since they visited McGonagall. Peter paled.

"Do you think his mom…?"

"No!" James stated firmly, cutting Peter off. "Professor McGonagall said they looked into it, and that they didn't find anything. Remus is fine."

"But does she know about his mom? It wouldn't be her who was hurting him - it would be a wolf! No matter what, I don't want him to go!" Sirius hadn't even realized he was standing. He just needed them to understand. To get on his side.

"You can't force him to stay. I get why he wanna visit to make sure she's okay." James glanced at Peter, hoping the other boy would help him calm down Sirius.

"I would wanna visit my mom too," Peter said.

Yet Sirius wasn't convinced. "Does he genuinely want to go? He's always upset whenever he has to leave." Peter and James finally seemed to believe him.

After a couple of minutes in silence, James spoke. "We ask him if he wants to stay. But we won't force him-"

The door suddenly opened. Remus had been too lost in his thoughts to hear what they were talking about, but considering the way, their eyes moved to him and their mouths shut, it felt as if they had been talking about him.

He slowly closed the door and carefully found his way back to the bed. Once sitting down, Remus dared a glance at all of them. He kept his breaths steady. Why were they talking about him?

The full moon caused Remus to lose his concentration. He had been staring at the same page for at least an hour until his heart suddenly began beating swiftly. The clock told him we were running a little late.

He began packing his things away. Immediately all eyes were on him. Remus turned his back to them and put on his jacket, but when he turned back, Sirius was blocking the door.

"I need to go." The time was ticking causing his heart to beat faster.

"You could also stay," Sirius stated softly. All the other boys moved closer to him, but Sirius was still standing in the way. "If you stay, you won't get behind in classes."

Remus couldn't deal with it. His head was spinning. Usually, he would already be under the covers in the Shrieking Shack. He needed to go. To make sure no one got hurt!

"Can we talk about this another time? I need to go." Remus took a step forward, but the others did as well. He felt panic rising.

"Your mom will understand," Peter said, thinking that was why Remus was hesitating.

"I'm late. I need to go." He took another step, but so did they. "Guys. I want to go. Can you please just move?"

"Did she give you the scars?"

"What? No-" Oh no. He pulled down his sleeves by instinct. McGonagall had told him to come up with a cover story, but he had completely forgotten! His eyes moved across the room. But they were blocking the way.

"Remus, it's okay. We know she's a werewolf. And while she might not mean to hurt you, it could still happen." James' soothing voice didn't have an impact on him.

"She's not-"

"Then why do always disappear during the full moon?"

Remus froze. His eyes landed on Peter. His mind was clouded, and he couldn't seem to think straight. He was on the verge of throwing up. Instinctually, he took a step back. They tried to speak to him, but he couldn't hear them.

The whole world stood still. Time was ticking. He needed to go.

Remus tried to get through their shield, but they held him back. He needed to go. Despite trying, he couldn't slow down his breathing. He was on the edge of the cliff. Them or him. He needed to go.

Remus took one last look at them. To remember how they looked with worry in their eyes instead of hate. He should never have accepted the letter to Hogwarts. He needed to go.

"I'm a werewolf!"

He couldn't look at them. Couldn't bear to see them as they realized they had been friends with a monster.

"What?" James whispered, but after his statement, there hadn't been a sound in the room.

"I'm a werewolf and if you don't let me go, you're all gonna die!"

Without a word, they moved. Remus sprinted - and didn't stop. He jumped down the stairs and out of the portrait hole where Madam Pomfrey came walking towards.

"Mr Lupin-"

"I know."

His breath hitched. His legs arched, but he forced himself to keep going. Tears filled his eyes as he realized what would happen once he woke up again the next morning. If he woke up the next morning.

Remus couldn't comprehend what would happen if he didn't make it to the Shrieking Shack.

The staircases quickly disappeared behind him as he jumped down. Then Hogwarts. He had barely even pressed the knot at the Whomping Willow before he was in the tunnel. He kept falling on the uneven ground, but he couldn't slow down.

Remus stood in the Shrieking Shack; he had slammed the door behind him. The sound still echoed through the room. He could finally take a deep, calming breath.

But he fell to the ground as pain overtook his body and screams filled the room.

By the minute he became less and less human while also growing bigger. He tried to rip off his clothes causing deep scars to appear, but his body was shaking. He couldn't breathe causing only stifled screams to come out.

But even then, as his body changed and his bones broke, it wasn't as hurtful as knowing he had lost his best and only friends.

 **.:lll:.**

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 **This hurts so much to write. I need to write next chapter soon to feel better.**

 **Remember to tell if you liked this chapter - or if you didn't. Constructive criticism is always welcome. :D**


	42. Cursed

**DISCLAIMER I don't own the wizarding world of Harry Potter**

 **Last time: They got the hair for the Polyjuice Potion. Sirius receives a package with sweets from James' mom. They practice baking the cake for the Halloween Prank. James, Sirius and Peter confront Remus, hoping they can make him stay instead of visiting his mom. But time is ticking, and Remus reveals his secret to protect his friends.**

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 **Cursed**

 _Remus didn't want to sleep. He had always been allowed to be up longer for his birthday and tonight was the full moon. It had been long since had had last seen it, as it had been cloudy all the previous months._

 _His mom hadn't answered him when he asked why he couldn't see it. However, she had let him look in his new tales of Beedle the Bard book. Although he couldn't read it, the pictures in it were fun to look at._

 _He hadn't heard any of the stories in it yet, his mom had wanted him to learn about the muggle fairy tales, but his dad had thought it was about time. They wanted to read it for him the next day._

 _Remus glared towards his window. It wouldn't hurt if he just opened it for a short moment while he admired the moon, right? With an eager smile, he carefully put down the book._

 _He put his ear against the door, making sure his parents weren't coming. When satisfied, he opened the window as slowly and quietly as he could, additionally causing the protecting spells to break. The moon wasn't up. Disappointed, he closed the window again but forgot to lock it._

 _Though he decided to say goodnight to his parents now, and then look at the moon when it came up! He took a few moments to force the sheepish smile off his face. It wouldn't be good of his parents saw right through him._

 _He sneaked towards the living room on his small feet. The floor would have been cold if he hadn't gotten woollen socks along with the book for his fifth birthday. They were blue - just like the Ravenclaw House at Hogwarts._

 _His dad was holding his mom as they sat on the couch. Usually, they would sit outside, and his dad would use a heating charm to keep them warm, but they hadn't been much outside lately. Remus hadn't been allowed outside either._

 _They immediately spotted his small figure._

" _I'm ready to sleep now."_

 _His parents slowly moved out of their position and followed him, but he ran ahead of them. He sprinted the last bit towards his bed and jumped as high as he could. His parents had given him a big bed for when he became a big boy._

 _He hid under the covers, muffling out the sound of his dad laughing softly. Remus always insisted on jumping into the bed, despite having a little staircase he could use. He then stuck his head out, though keeping his nose under the duvet._

" _Goodnight mom, goodnight dad."_

" _Goodnight, Remus," they said simultaneously. Both his parents kissed him goodnight. Just as they had turned off the light, and was about to close the door, he spoke again._

" _Dad?"_

 _The door reopened._

" _Yes?"_

" _Can you check for monsters under my bed?"_

 _His dad raised his eyebrow. Nonetheless entered the room and sat down on Remus' bed. "Aren't you too big to believe in monsters?"_

 _Remus shook his head, causing his dad to laugh softly again. He hadn't been laughing much lately. His dad put a finger to his lips, efficiently silencing Remus. Then, slowly getting down on the floor, and looking under the bed._

 _Remus held his breath right until his dad came back up._

" _There. No monsters. Now, go to sleep, alright?"_

" _Okay, dad."_

 _And Remus did sleep. It was late and the day had been filled with fun and lots to eat. His parents had seemed extra eager to make his birthday great._

 _Remus slept. He had forgotten about the full moon he had wanted to see. He had forgotten to lock the window like his dad always insisted._

 _He slept until a jerking pain forced him awake. He stared into the yellow eyes of a giant monster. He screamed. His dad came. The monster fled after a curse hit it. But the pain didn't stop. His vision became blurry from tears as his mom tried to assure him everything would be alright, while his dad cleaned the bite._

 _But just like that._

 _Just because of one tiny mistake._

 _His life had changed forever._

.:lll:.

Silence filled the dorm room. Not one of the boys had made a move since Remus ran from the room, they hadn't even spoken and barely dared to breathe. They all tried to process his words. Making sense of it.

"So…" James couldn't bear the silence any longer, and he feared Sirius' reaction to all of this. His parents had told Sirius about werewolves. But they couldn't lose Remus. Remus needed them more than ever.

"I thought werewolves weren't allowed at Hogwarts," Peter glanced nervously at Sirius, who still hadn't moved.

"Dad always said Dumbledore doesn't care about rules," James glared at Sirius. "But we're going to stay his friend, right _Sirius_?"

Two pairs of eyes moved to the boy, but he still didn't move. It was as if he was under a spell. James put his hand on his shoulder, finally receiving a reaction, and repeated his question.

Though Sirius simply made a "Hmm" sound and moved his gaze down.

"REMUS ISN'T A MONSTER!" He roared.

Sirius jerked, looked up, his gaze blank. James had meant to be more patient with Sirius, but he couldn't comprehend how Sirius could think like that about his friend!

"I didn't-"

"But you thought it."

Sirius glanced back down at his feet with a regretful look in his eyes. He didn't like that James was yelling, but he liked himself less for even thinking about the things he did. But nothing made sense.

"It's just that my parents said-"

"But they were wrong about muggleborns too, weren't they?!"

Sirius didn't answer. The whole situation made him uncomfortable. He didn't know what to do or say, but luckily Peter came to his rescue.

"James, maybe you should calm down a little." He easily recognized the expression Sirius was wearing, the way he somehow became smaller and pulled into himself.

They were all quiet for a few minutes as James took deep breaths to calm down, and Sirius tried to figure it all out.

"Sorry," James said.

Sirius began speaking without knowing where he was going, but he just needed to sort his head out. "My parents have just always said that werewolves are evil. That they hunt wizards for sports. But Remus isn't evil - he sacrificed himself for us. But…" Something finally clicked. "But it's like with that family that was attacked last year. If muggles had only ever met those sorcerous, they would think we were all evil. So maybe not all werewolves are evil, but it's just some of them. Enough to give them a bad reputation, but Remus is one of the good ones."

"Exactly." James let out a relieved sigh.

"Remus said he never believed he would get to go to Hogwarts, so he has been cursed more than a couple of years before he started." Peter thought it was a good idea to add more evidence that Remus was a good person.

James quickly caught on. "He must have been eight or younger."

"Kids can't be evil," Sirius said, satisfied with himself. "And Dumbledore wouldn't let an evil werewolf into Hogwarts." Remus was a good werewolf and their friend. A sudden realization hit him. "Remus give himself those scars. That's where they come from."

"But why would he hurt himself?"

Sirius shrugged, but a thought came to him. "I bet McGonagall knows. She must've lied to us when we told her about how Remus might be abused. I bet she knows a lot."

"Should we talk to her now? It's already after curfew." Despite his words, Peter seemed more than eager to talk with McGonagall immediately.

And they went.

.:lll:.

Professor McGonagall had narrowed her eyebrows as the three boys knocked on her door. But that expression soon changed.

"We know about Remus."

"And we'll stay friends with him."

After those statements, she quickly let them inside. She cleared her desk for papers, waved her wand, making four cups of tea appear and three chairs. They all sat down and took a cup each.

"We know that Remus is a werewolf," Sirius said finally.

"How do you know?" She simply asked.

James took upon the task of explaining. "We thought his mom was a werewolf and that that was her illness, since Remus always visited her during full moons. But we were worried because he had lots of scars on his arm, and we thought his mom was, unintentionally, hurt him. So, we tried to prevent him from going, but we did that for too long, and he finally confessed that he is a werewolf."

"We just want to know where he goes, and what we can do to help," Peter added.

McGonagall paused slightly. "He was bitten before starting Hogwarts. His dad, Lyall Lupin, visited Dumbledore and asked to give Remus a chance, which he did. As you know, we used his mom's health to excuse his disappearance every month. He goes to the Hospital Wing and Madam Pomfrey leads him through a secret passageway under the Whomping Willow to the Shrieking Shack, which is protected by spells Dumbledore has put up."

They all nodded, waiting for her to answer Peter's second question.

"There isn't anything you can do. But if you stay by his side, that'll be more than he'll ever want. I assume you know most wizard's views on werewolves. It'll mean everything to him that you still want to be his friends."

After a little pause, James spoke. "Who knows? We don't want to mention it in front of someone who doesn't."

Professor McGonagall put down her cup after taking a sip. "All the teachers. Filch, Madam Pinch and Professor Eckbird don't know. Hagrid does. He's rather fond of Mr Lupin actually, he just doesn't want to scare him off."

"Is there seriously nothing we can do to help?" Sirius asked suddenly.

Her lips curved up, but only little and it was almost invisible. "As I said, just be there for him. He won't ask for more."

Despite that, Sirius was determined to help Remus in some way. Most people didn't like werewolves, so of course, no one tried to help them. Maybe Remus wouldn't ask for more, but Sirius would be sure to give it!

.:lll:.

Remus woke up suddenly. He was covered in cold sweat and his heart beat as if he had been running a marathon. He wanted to cover his face but found he was unable to move. He struggled to calm himself down.

 _Just a nightmare._

A few minutes later, Madam Pomfrey came and poured a potion down his throat, causing him to fall into a restless sleep. The potion kept dreams away - both the good and bad ones. This sleep was only somewhat better than before.

The next time he woke was much more pleasant. A chocolate scent filled his nostrils, warmth filled his body when he heard his friends speak quietly to each other. One of them sat on the bed. For a brief moment, he wondered if he had died and gotten into Heaven.

But surely a werewolf wouldn't be let into heaven.

Remus tried moving, instantly causing the others to shut their mouths.

"Remus?" Sirius said.

He kept his eyes closed. This was all a dream. Last night was a cruel nightmare. They had let him go and he hadn't revealed his secret to them. They were still his friends and he could stay at Hogwarts with them.

"Are you awake?" James asked.

Remus responded by opening his eyes but avoided looking at them. He couldn't run from the truth forever, yet still hoped they could be brief. Would the ministry kill him, or send him to Azkaban?

"How are you doing?"

His gaze found Peter's worried eyes. This, of all the questions and all the things they could've said, wasn't what he was expecting.

"What?" The word only came out as a hoarse whisper. Remus reached his throat, immediately feeling the scars, but also realizing his throat was sore from screaming.

"How are you doing?" Peter repeated. "Do you need anything? We got chocolate."

The last word didn't cause a reaction. Remus' eyes moved across the room. All his friends -previous friends- looked back at him with sympathy in their eyes.

Nothing made sense. They should hate him. What was going on?

When he didn't answer, Sirius spoke again. "Remus?"

He simply shook his head, then covered his face with his arms. This had to be a cruel prank of some sort. That had to be the only explanation. The things that happened the previous night did happen, and now they decided to drag out his punishment for attending Hogwarts.

Tears prickled in his eyes, but luckily his arms hid them.

"Remus." It was James. "We know you're a werewolf, and you should know that we don't care. We love you, and we will continue to be friends whether you like it or not!"

He slowly moved his arms. Sirius and Peter were both nodding as to agree with the statement.

It couldn't be true. It just couldn't. Everyone hates werewolves. And especially both Sirius and James should, they were purebloods after all. But something about their genuine expression prickled to the little inch of hope he had. He couldn't help the question, that was only just a whisper. "Really?"

There was something almost sad about the way Remus' eyes lit up.

"Of course!" Sirius immediately replied. "You're stuck with us forever."

Remus let out a huff of air, then bit his lip to prevent himself from crying, but it only lasted a few seconds. Tears streamed down his face, he tried wiping them away, but more kept coming.

Sirius helped him sit up. James and Peter joined them on the bed, holding their arms around him. He struggled to hold back more tears, then eventually just decided to let it roll.

"It's okay Remus," James said as he placed his hand on Remus' knee.

"We'll stay," Peter said.

He tried to say something - anything, but he struggled to breathe, so ended up crying more. It couldn't be real. But it was. Remus wanted to thank them. This was better than anything he could ever have hoped for.

They wouldn't tell anyone. He wouldn't be either expelled or punished by the ministry. Dumbledore wouldn't get into trouble. They wanted to be friends with him. They weren't scared, not even disgusted by him!

They simply hugged him tighter.

.:lll:.

Remus slept till the next day. When the three boys came in to visit before breakfast, he was already sitting, his expression was blank despite the fact he was eating chocolate.

He greeted them shortly, not meeting their gaze. They caused a slight reaction in him when they sat down on the bed.

"How's it going?" Peter asked.

Remus shrugged. He was embarrassed by yesterday. All the potions he took affected his mood. Sometimes, like yesterday, he would show emotions very clearly, while other days he wouldn't be able to show any at all.

"You can tell us." Sirius nudged his shoulder gently.

He hesitated. "Do you truly all want to be friends with me? I get if you don't-"

"Why wouldn't we?" James knew why, and they all knew he knew why, but he wanted Remus to truly believe it wasn't something they would kick him out of the group for.

"I'm a monster, I-"

"Monster? Come on Remy don't give yourself too much credit. You fold your socks for Merlin's sake, excuse me for not trembling at the sight of you." Sirius took it as a win when Remus' lips curved upwards slightly.

"Sirius is right," Peter said. "I don't think I've ever met someone in my life who looks less like a monster than you."

"And if you do," James quickly said. "It's once every month. Besides, you lock yourself away to keep everyone else safe. A monster wouldn't do that."

Remus finally met their gaze and held it. "Really?" He repeated because he _needed_ to know. He couldn't believe it. These three people had to be the best in the universe, why would they want to be friends with him?

"There's nothing you can do that would make us go away," Sirius stated.

"To be frank, we need you. Without you, we would probably never do any homework, and our pranks wouldn't be half as incredible. Plus, you're cool." James felt it all became a tad too sweet. "You should already be _aware_ of that."

Sirius and Peter both snickered, the former responded. "Come one James, you need to work harder if you want him to _howl_ with laughter."

Remus snorted, but couldn't hold back a smile. He hadn't ever thought it would feel so nice to hear his friends so casually joke about his condition.

"And don't worry. We already came up with an amazing cover story for the, uh." Peter gestured to his face.

"My…?" His hand flew up. A thin line ran across his face. The roughness and slight swelling were way too familiar. His mood sank at once. Though kept searching and found two more. Three scars ran across his face.

"It makes you look badass," Sirius said when he saw Remus' reaction to the news. "The girls will be flocking around you."

This didn't brighten his mood.

Then James tried. "We started a rumour that you fought a hippogriff in the forbidden forest - and won of course. That's why you're in the Hospital Wing, and why the scars are there."

"Thanks," he mumbled. Then clearer. "Thanks for the effort."

Remus finally took a bite of the chocolate. He got to keep his friends but also got a constant reminder of his lycanthropy right where he couldn't hide it. It was worth it though. He would put his friends above everything.

"Now that you've got a badass reputation, you also need a badass nickname," Peter said. "Remy doesn't live up to that. I suggest… Wolfie!

James had none of that. "Wolfie, seriously? _Don't even start Sirius_. That's not badass at all. You should go with Alfa!"

"Lune!" Sirius almost jumped on the bed of excitement.

"Lune?"

"It means moon in French. It's cool!" Sirius glared at James. "He can't take moon in Latin, duh, cause then he would be Luna!"

"What about moonlight?" Peter asked.

"Moonshine," James quipped.

"Moons," Sirius said.

"Woof."

"Roofing."

"Howl."

"Hairy-"

"GUYS!" Remus effectively shut their mouths. "I don't need a new nickname, and all those are bad anyway."

"Then why don't you come up with one?" James dared.

Remus paused, thinking of a wolf-like name. One immediately came to mind. He used to have a toy when he was younger. A little wolf. It had been a little while after he had been bitten. His parents had given it to him to cheer him up. They said the wolf was good, just like he could be.

"Moony."

"That's… actually quite good," James admitted.

Sirius smiled widely. "You're moony from now on."

"It's perfect," Peter agreed.

Remus couldn't hold back a smile. He had got to be the luckiest werewolf on the planet!

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 **Should Remus know about them wanting to be animagi, or should it be a surprise?**

 **I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! I'm certainly happy they're accepting of his condition :D**

 **Leave a review please, I haven't seen one in months!**


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